How woman faked kidnap after spending brother’s N3.6m on bridal shower
Delta State Police Command’s spokesperson, Edafe Bright
Abdullateef Fowewe
Delta State Police Command have arrested Merit Alice, a 27-year-old woman who confessed to staging her own kidnapping to enable her repay N3.6 million entrusted by her brother.
Alice admitted on Monday that her brother had given her the substantial sum to purchase tricycles but she instead diverted the funds to cover expenses for her bridal shower and hotel accommodations for friends during her wedding in March.
As her brother began pressing for the return of his money, Alice claimed she conspired with two accomplices to stage the kidnapping.
The Command spokesperson, Bright Edafe, detailed the incident stating, “On July 20, Alice informed her husband she was going out, only for him to later receive news of her alleged kidnapping.”
“A ransom of N3 million was paid after several calls. The husband followed up on the case at the Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad, and we continued to work until we arrested one of the suspects who eventually let the cat out of the bag.”
Alice further implicated two individuals in her scheme, including a security guard named Peter, who had worked at her previous workplace.
She added, “My husband and my brothers raised the N3 million ransom that we demanded. After which I went to a POS woman’s shop to cash out the money. I took N2.5 million and gave my accomplices N500,000.”
