A 27-year-old Secondary School drop-out, identified as Ruth Livinus, has landed in police net for faking her kidnap to extort money from her widowed mother.
This was revealed yesterday by Livinus while been paraded by the police. She stated that she engaged in the crime to extort money from her widowed mother to establish a hairdressing salon.
According to the police, Livinus was arrested alongside her live-in-lover, Isaac Gabriel whom she alleged sold the idea to her.
The lovers were paraded alongside 21 other suspects arrested for various crimes at the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos.
Addressing newsmen, the Zonal Public Relations Officer, SP Ayuba Umma, said, “A case of kidnapping was reported to the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters, by one Jona Jumai, that sometime in May 2024, her sister, Ruth Livinus, who works as a domestic staff in the Ajah area of Lagos, went missing.
“Few days later, the family members were contacted via a strange telephone number that Ruth Livinus had been kidnapped. And that she was in the custody of the kidnappers, who demanded a five-million-Naira ransom. They were directed to pay the money into a designated account.”
According to Umma, a picture of Livinus in a bush path, with hands and legs tied, as gathered, was sent to her mother. This was to create fear and force her to meet the kidnappers’ demand. Her mother was said to have managed to pay N60, 000 only, before they were trailed to their hideout in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
Narrating escapade, the Kaduna State-born Ruth Livinus, expressed regrets over her actions.
She said, “I wanted to use the money to open a hairdressing shop for myself. My boyfriend, Gabriel, sold the idea to me. We were caught because my stepsister tracked the number used to contact my mother. And that led the Police to us. I have only succeeded in collecting N60,000 as ransom before we were arrested.”
On his part, her boyfriend, Gabriel, however, contradicted her statement. He said Ruth muted the idea.
The 24-year-old lover said, “Ruth is a friend. She said she wanted to open a shop, and I told her to tell her mother. She initially suggested we should tell her brother that she was sick. But we concluded that the money that would be sent would not be much. She then said she would lie to her mother that she had been kidnapped. I only supported the idea,” the Benue State-born lover said.
source: VANGUARD
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