A 17-year old Senior Secondary School (SSS) 3 student of Good Shepherd Secondary School, Umuahia, Abia State, Obinna Nwatu has confessed to Police how he faked his own kidnap and also demanded for a N6m ransom from his mother.
Obinna hid inside a hotel for three days even as he allegedly conspired with his gang member, Chinaza Ugorji. They demanded a ransom of N6 million from Obinna’s mum, Mrs Rose Nwatu.
The mother later paid N200,000 to the two-man gang at Okpuala Ngwa in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State.
The Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mrs Janet Agbede stated that that the saga started on September 17, 2021 when the suspect, Obinna Nwatu ‘abducted’ himself after meeting with a friend, Chinaza Ugorji a.k.a “Wizzy”, with whom he had been friends on Facebook since 2017.
“They both planned on how to get money. And one of the ways to achieve that purpose, they reasoned, was to collect N6 million from Obinna’s mother, Mrs Rose Nwatu,” CP Agbede said.
The police boss said the two decided to meet another teenager, 19-year-old Chinaza Favour Ukaigwe at the latter’s shop in Aba, Abia State and requested for his bank account details. They told Chinaza that they wanted to use the bank account details to receive the school fees of their younger sister. The CP explained that Chinaza then gave them the bank account details.
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The suspect’s mother, Mrs Rose Nwatu said it was a terrible incident in my life. “I never thought that in my life, my own son, Obinna would be involved in kidnapping. When the Anti-Kidnapping operatives came to arrest my son, I disagreed with them. I believe so much in my son that he can never be involved in kidnapping. When the kidnappers were calling for ransom, I didn’t hear my own son’s voice. It was still a shock when my son, Obinna was arrested. He confessed that he was the mastermind and that he conspired with a gang member to extort me of N200, 000. I do care for my son; this is just a lesson for him. I lost my husband some years back, I am the one who is caring for the family.”