Two men have been arrested by operatives of the Bayelsa State Police Command for conspiring to collect ransom after staging a fake kidnap.
News About Nigeria gathered that one of the men, identified as Biobarakumo Gamade, was the mastermind of the crime.
Gamade conspired with his accomplice, Frank Thompson, to fake his kidnapping and demand a N10 million ransom from his brother.
However, Gamade’s brother negotiated the ransom down to N2 million.
While parading the suspects at the state police command headquarters on Thursday, State Commissioner of Police, Alonyenu Francis Idu, revealed that the case had been reported by Gamade’s brother, Mr. Gemade Esua Igoniamine, in October.
Idu further disclosed that following the complaint, the police launched an investigation and discovered from security cameras that no kidnapping incident had occurred at the location where they claimed Gamade had been abducted.
The suspects were later traced and arrested through the N2 million ransom payment.
The Police Commissioner said, “We received a distress call that a black jeep with military personnel had kidnapped a man. We searched all our cameras and found no such vehicle. Later, we received a call from someone claiming to have kidnapped a victim and demanding a N10 million ransom. The operatives of the anti-kidnapping unit swung into action, leading to the arrest of Frank Thompson, who hails from Nembe Local Government Area, through the ransom that was paid.
“Upon interrogation, the suspects admitted that they had staged the kidnapping to collect ransom. They had initially demanded N10 million, but only N2 million was paid, which helped trace them to the hotel where they had lodged outside the state.
