By Deborah Nnamdi
The Anambra State Police Command has arrested two suspects over a staged kidnapping allegedly masterminded in collaboration with the victim’s boyfriend to extort money from her parents.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Awkuzu, uncovered the conspiracy on March 14, 2026, following intensified investigations into reported cases across the state.
According to the statement, the suspects, Chinedu Chineye Nwobi, 25, and Okwudili Nweke, 25, were arrested in connection with the fake abduction of 18-year-old Miss Mmesoma Ifediora. The victim was rescued unharmed from a forest popularly known as “Malaysia Forest” located at Iruayika, Awkuzu.
Ikenga said that during interrogation, the teenager confessed that the kidnapping was staged in collaboration with her boyfriend, identified as Obiora Okoye, alias “Stainless,” with the intention of extorting N3 million from her parents.
She reportedly admitted that both of them had taken an oath of secrecy and had been moving between locations for about two months to sustain the deception. The police said Okoye fled upon sighting operatives and remains at large.
The command disclosed that the victim’s parents had already paid N240,000 into her Opay account as part of the ransom demand before the plot was uncovered.
Items recovered from the suspects include 10 SIM cards of different networks, an MTN 4G WiFi device, two female pants, a native “juju” calabash, a mobile phone, a necklace, a white bandage allegedly used to tie the victim’s hands and eyes, and computer cables.
In a related development, Ikenga said RRS operatives on March 18, 2026, arrested another suspect, Chukwuebuka Eze, 24, described as a gang leader linked to a separate kidnapping incident in Obosi.
The suspect, who bears a tattoo inscription reading, “No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper,” allegedly masterminded the abduction in which a ransom of N150,000 was paid before the victims were released after being dispossessed of their valuables.
Police said a locally made double-barrel shotgun, five live cartridges, and a Redmi mobile phone belonging to one of the victims were recovered from him. He reportedly confessed to the crime and provided information about other gang members who are currently at large.
Ikenga said the breakthroughs were the result of intensified intelligence-led operations and collaboration with other security agencies and members of the public. He added that all suspects would be charged in court upon the conclusion of investigations.
