Girl Stages Own Kidnap, Demands N10 Million as Ransom in Edo

Felix Omoh-Asun in Benin

An 18-year-old girl Obehi Odine has been arrested by Edo State Command for allegedly staging her own kidnapping and demanding a ransom of N10 million.

According to the police, she was apprehended on Monday, 12 January 2026, following a report of a suspected abduction along Old INEC Road, Ekpoma.

“Following a report of a suspected kidnapping along Old INEC Road, Ekpoma, received at about noon on 12th January, the new DPO immediately swung into action and deployed operational resources to track the caller,” said Eno Ikoedem, the Command’s Spokesperson.

“Technical intelligence and field investigations led to the arrest of the suspect, which later revealed a case of self-kidnapping. She has confessed to the crime, admitting that the incident was deliberately fabricated to extort money,” he added.

In a related operation in Ubiaja, the police, working with the Nigerian Military and the Edo State Security Corps (ESSC), conducted a bush-combing exercise that led to the arrest of eleven male suspects believed to belong to a kidnapping syndicate.

Ikoedem said: “A concealed forest enclave identified by the drone squadron as a suspected kidnapping and logistics base was stormed. We recovered 24 Dane guns, 17 cutlasses, three battle axes, gunpowder, torchlights, mobile phones, solar panels, charms, a Daylong motorcycle, and N209,700 in cash, among other exhibits.”