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Lagos Police arrest 26-year-old woman for staging self-kidnap in Lagos.
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Suspect extorted ₦2.5m ransom from husband using fake abductors.
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Police uncover accomplice, recover phone, investigation ongoing.
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old woman, identified simply as Misturah, for allegedly staging her own abduction and extorting ₦2.5 million from her husband under the guise of a kidnapping.
The incident was reported to the police on November 24, after a lawyer identified as Hamzat contacted the command to report that his brother’s wife had been kidnapped by unknown armed men.
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A police source disclosed that the suspected abductors initially demanded a ransom of ₦10 million, which was later reduced to ₦3 million during negotiations. Eventually, ₦2.5 million was paid before the victim was reportedly released.
Following the report, police operatives were deployed to track the suspected kidnappers and rescue the victim. However, before the operatives could locate the alleged hideout, the complainant informed the police that Misturah had been released and reunited with her family.
The woman was subsequently invited to the Lagos State Police Command headquarters, where she claimed she was abducted by six armed men who arrived in a silver Toyota Venza. She alleged that her iPhone 12 Pro Max was seized and that she was freed only after the ransom was paid.
She further told investigators that the ransom money was paid into her bank account before being handed over to the kidnappers, insisting that the entire sum was delivered to them.
However, further investigation raised suspicion, leading to the arrest of a 30-year-old man, identified as Daniel, in Ede, Osun State, on December 3.
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Police recovered a SIM card allegedly used to register the WhatsApp account through which ransom negotiations were conducted. During interrogation, Daniel told investigators that Misturah, whom he knew online for about two years, requested the use of his SIM card to resolve personal issues.
He explained that he forwarded a one-time password to her, enabling the registration of the WhatsApp account used for the negotiations. He added that he later lost access to his own WhatsApp account after multiple messages were sent through the line.
When confronted with Daniel’s confession, Misturah reportedly admitted to faking her own kidnapping in order to extort money from her husband, who is based in South Africa.
Further findings led to the recovery of the iPhone she earlier claimed was with the kidnappers. The phone was traced to a 34-year-old man, Yusuf Sodiq, to whom she allegedly sold it for ₦380,000, with instructions not to insert a SIM card.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, SP Abimbola Adebisi, said investigations were ongoing and that appropriate charges would be filed at the conclusion of the probe.
