Lagos police arrest two students for faking own kidnapping

The Lagos State Police Command has nabbed two students for reportedly planning their own kidnapping.

The suspects, described as Ayodele Balogun, a 21-year-old 200-level student at Lagos State University, and his companion Dennis Okuomo, also 21, allegedly wanted a $100,000 (roughly N150 million) ransom from their parents.

According to SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Dennis devised the strategy to help Ayodele, who comes from a low-income household. Dennis allegedly started the fundraising campaign to help Ayodele’s family.

On February 2, Ayodele vanished from his house, prompting Dennis to call Ayodele’s father and demand a $20,000 ransom (about N30 million).

The suspects instructed Ayodele’s father to pay the ransom in Bitcoin and gave him a wallet address, while Ayodele hid in Dennis’s room at his father’s hotel.

When Ayodele’s father was unable to satisfy the demand, Dennis staged his own abduction, demanding $100,000 from him.

Both suspects then hid in a bush for five days amid the talks and inquiry. On March 16, they returned to Dennis’s hotel room and claimed to have escaped the kidnappers’ den. However, subsequent inquiry proved that the entire incident was manufactured.

The accused are currently in police custody, facing allegations connected to staging their own kidnapping.