Police arrest woman for staging own kidnap to extort mother in Benue

The Benue State Police Command has arrested a young woman for allegedly faking her own kidnapping and demanding ransom from her mother.

The command’s spokesperson, DSP Orchia Peter Aondona, disclosed in a statement on Wednesday that the suspect, Mary Torkuma, was arrested alongside her alleged accomplice, Evergreen Samuel.

According to the police, the suspects were apprehended following an intelligence-led investigation by operatives of the Violence Crime Response Unit (VCRU).

The case was reported on July 15 after Torkuma, a resident of Akpehe in Makurdi, reportedly left her apartment on July 12 to visit a friend in the North Bank area of the state capital.

Police said her mother, who lives in Lagos State, received a call the following day from an unknown person claiming that her daughter had been kidnapped and demanding ransom for her release.

Acting on the report, detectives launched an investigation that traced the suspects to a hotel in the Ankpa Quarters area of Makurdi, where Torkuma was found with Samuel, who had travelled from Abia State.

Preliminary investigations, according to the police, indicate that the pair allegedly conspired to stage the kidnapping in an attempt to deceive Torkuma’s mother into paying ransom.

The suspects remain in police custody, while investigations are ongoing.