Lagos woman fakes own kidnap, extorts N2.5m from husband

A 26-year-old woman, identified simply as Misturah, has been arrested for allegedly staging her own abduction and extorting N2.5m from her husband under the guise of a kidnapping, PUNCH Metro has learnt.

It was gathered that the incident was reported to the police on November 24 when a lawyer, Hamzat (surname withheld), contacted the police to report that his brother’s wife had been kidnapped by unknown armed men.

A source in the Lagos State Police Command, who spoke to our correspondent on Tuesday in confidence, said the supposed abductors demanded a ransom of N10m for Misturah’s release.

According to the source, the amount was later reduced to N3m during negotiations, after which a sum of N2.5m was eventually paid.

“Following the report of her supposed kidnapping, the command registered the incident for investigation.

“During ransom negotiations, the kidnappers reduced their demand to N3m. Subsequently, a sum of N2.5m was paid; however, the kidnappers initially refused to release the hostage.

“Upon receipt of the complaint, a team of police officers was deployed to track and rescue the victim.

“Before operatives could locate the suspected criminals’ hideout, the complainant contacted the squad and reported that the victim had been released and reunited with her family,” the source narrated.

The police source further stated that Misturah was subsequently invited to the command headquarters the following day, where she was debriefed and her statement recorded.

In her account, she reportedly claimed she was kidnapped by six armed men who arrived in a silver Toyota Venza and took her to an undisclosed location.

She also alleged that her iPhone 12 Pro Max was seized and that she was released only after the payment of N2.5m.

She further told detectives that the ransom money was first paid into her bank account before it was handed over to the kidnappers, insisting that the entire sum was delivered to them.

The police source, however, noted that further investigation raised suspicions, leading to the arrest of a 30-year-old man, identified simply as Daniel, on December 3, in Ede, Osun State.

The source said, “A SIM card used to register the WhatsApp account through which ransom negotiations were conducted was recovered from Adedamola.

“During interrogation, he stated that Misturah was an online acquaintance of about two years and that she requested the use of his SIM card to register a WhatsApp account.

“He stated that during the registration process, a one-time password was sent to him, which he forwarded to Misturah, enabling her to activate the WhatsApp account.

“He further stated that she informed him that the phone number would be used to resolve some personal issues.

“He claimed that after she concluded her use of the number, she deactivated the WhatsApp account and later informed him.

“However, he later began receiving multiple messages on the same line, which eventually caused WhatsApp to log him out of his own account.

“Upon contacting Misturah, she told him that she had used the account to settle issues between herself and her husband, one Ridwan, who is based in South Africa.”

Confronted with Daniel’s confession after a police invitation, Misturah was said to have admitted to faking her kidnapping to extort money from her husband.

PUNCH Metro further gathered that findings also led to the recovery of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which she earlier claimed was with the kidnappers.

“The phone was recovered from one Yusuf Sodiq, 34, to whom she allegedly sold it for N380,000. She warned the buyer not to insert any SIM card into the device until a later time,” the source added.

When contacted on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the state police command, Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed the incident.

“Investigations are ongoing, and appropriate charges will be filed at the conclusion of the probe,” she said.

The incident is the latest in a growing number of self-orchestrated abduction cases uncovered by law enforcement.

PUNCH Metro reported in April 2023 that the command arrested a couple for planning a self-kidnapping.

The couple, who admitted to the crime, said they planned the self-kidnap with the hope of raising N5m to buy back their house in the Badagry area of Lagos State.(Punch)