Christopher Oji
The police have arrested a female teacher, Chizoba for allegedly staging her own kidnap and collecting ransom in Abriba-Ohafia area of Abia State.
The suspect, a mother of three was arrested alongside two others, Anthony and Ezema, who were alleged accomplices in the fake kidnap saga.
They were alleged to have assisted her in staging the kidnap but were arrested by the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team ( IRT).
It was gathered that N500,000 was paid through Chizoba’s bank account as ransom, before the IRT operatives swooped on them.
It was gathered further that one of Chizoba’s relatives, alerted IGP Adamu Mohammed, about her abduction and the subsequent demand for N2 million ransom. The informant reported to IGP Adamu that Chizoba’s kidnappers had threatened to kill her within hours if their demands were not met and Adamu swiftly deployed a crack team of operatives from the IRT, headed by DCP Abba Kyari, to track and apprehend the suspects.
It was gathered further that the operatives, who were armed with advance tracking devices, trailed Chizoba and her supposed kidnappers to an uncompleted building at Agborji community in Abriba-Ohafia area of Abia State, with the intention of rescuing her and apprehending her kidnappers, but the operatives got the shock of their lives when they arrived the hideout only to discover that Chizoba was having amorous affairs with one of her supposed kidnappers.
The operatives also discovered that her abduction was staged-managed so as to extort money from her relatives.
A police source said Chizoba had confessed that she wanted to use the money to elope with her boyfriend to Europe.
However, Chizoba in an interview denied staging her own kidnap, claiming that she was hypnotised by her boyfriend, Ezema: “I am a primary school teacher, but I was formerly married and I had three children with my former husband.
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“I met Ezema on Facebook and he told me he is a fashion designer and told him that I have some jobs for him and from that point we started a relationship.
“At one point in our relationship, we discussed about travelling out of the country and he told me that he had once spent N300,000 for a travelling visa which did not work out. So, on March 13, I was on my way to visit my sister and a vehicle stopped in front of me and I saw six persons including a lady inside it. The lady among them called me and when I responded she asked me to enter the vehicle. It was at that time that I lost consciousness and I later found myself in my boyfriend’s home. I later realised that my boyfriend took my phone and used it to call my sister. He started demanding ransom and when my sister spoke with me, I had no option than to begged her to pay the ransom. I then sent my account number to my sister and she paid N500,000 into the account. Two days after the money was paid, the police arrested me and my boyfriend,” she stated.
Ezema, however, debunked Chizoba’s claims that she was hypnotised and kidnapped, saying: “We are lovers and we planned the fake kidnap together.
“We wanted to travel outside the country. She told me that her relatives would pay. We met on Facebook and we love ourselves. I know that she is ashamed of what really happened. I feel for her, but she should not make me look like a criminal,” he said.