Man arrested for hiring gang to kidnap benefactor

A 31-year-old Delta State man has been arrested for allegedly plotting the kidnap of the aunt who raised him from childhood, after the individuals he paid to carry out the abduction turned him in to the police instead.

The suspect, Chukwemeka Destiny, was paraded on Saturday by the Delta State Police Command’s spokesperson, Bright Edafe, who said Destiny paid a total of N900,000 in two instalments — N200,000 initially, followed by N700,000 — to persons he believed were kidnappers willing to abduct the woman.

According to the police, Destiny lived with his aunt from the age of five until he was 15, during which she catered for his upbringing and education. He reportedly left thereafter and severed ties with the family, neither returning to the home nor maintaining meaningful contact, though he was occasionally sighted in the neighbourhood.

The plot unravelled after the men he approached turned out not to be kidnappers. They played along, lured him in and subsequently handed him over to the police.

“Unknown to him, the people he contacted were not kidnappers. They used him as bait and handed him over to the police, thereby saving the life of his aunt,” Edafe said.

During interrogation, Destiny admitted to the crime but said he could not explain his actions. “Sincerely speaking, I am guilty of what happened. I don’t know what came over me. I can’t tell,” he said, later attributing his conduct to “the devil.” He identified himself as a married father of two who runs a haulage and building materials business, and said the payment was sourced from his business earnings.

His aunt, who identified Destiny as her elder sister’s son, said she was overwhelmed with shock upon learning of the plot. “I was shocked… crying,” she said. When asked whether she preferred mercy or justice, she said the law should take its full course. “Anything they know to do to such people, they should do it to him,” she said.

Edafe commended her position and described the case as part of a troubling pattern of violence against benefactors. “We have seen cases where workers kill their employers or security men attack their bosses just to steal valuables. It is a worrying pattern,” he said, adding that shielding suspects out of family sentiment often ends tragically.

Destiny is currently in the custody of the Raiders Squad of the Delta State Police Command as investigations continue.