The Enugu state police command has arrested a 26 year old man, Chibuike Joshua Ugwuja, for faking his own kidnap and demanding ₦35 million ransom from his family.
The arrest followed a report filed by his father after the young man failed to return home from work on November 22.
According to the command’s spokesperson, Daniel Ndukwe, the suspect’s father reported on November 24 that Ugwuja, who works as a private security guard in an estate in Trans-Ekulu, sent a facebook message to a female neighbour.
In the message, he claimed he had been kidnapped by unknown persons in a commercial bus and that his abductors were requesting ransom.
Police operatives launched an investigation to locate and rescue the suspect, however, the case took a different turn on November 30 when the suspect’s father brought him to the Trans-Ekulu police division.
“Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to staging the self-kidnapping.
“He revealed that after closing from work, he went to the residence of a friend at Amorji Nike, Enugu, rather than returning home, and from there masterminded the false kidnap.
“He demanded ₦35,000,000 from his family but eventually returned home on 29th November 2025 at about 9 a.m. after his ransom demands were not met, attributing his actions to frustration over his uncle’s alleged inability to procure a tricycle for him,” Ndukwe said.
He added that the suspect remains in custody and will face prosecution at the conclusion of investigations.
The commissioner of police, Mamman Bitrus Giwa, described the act as a regrettable height of criminality and praised the suspect’s parents for reporting the incident instead of concealing it.
He urged residents to promptly report suspected kidnappings and avoid complying with ransom demands without involving law enforcement.
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