Edo Police Arrest 18-year-old Girl for Staging Own Kidnap, Demanding N10m Ransom

..Arrest 11 Kidnappers, Recover Firearms

An 18-year-old girl who allegedly staged her own kidnapping and demanded a ransom of N10 million has been arrested by the Ekpoma Division of the Edo State Police Command.

The suspect, Obehi Odine, aged 18, was arrested for staging her own kidnapping and demanding a ransom of Ten Million Naira (₦10,000,000).

Her arrest followed a report of a suspected kidnapping along Old INEC Road, Ekpoma, received at about noon on 12th January, 2026.

The newly posted Divisional Police Officer, CSP Tomofe Nwabueze who recently assumed office, was said to have immediately swung into action and deployed operational resources to track the caller who claimed she was kidnapped.

Recalls the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika had as part of ongoing security assessment and strategic repositioning in Ekpoma ordered the reorganisation of the Ekpoma Division.

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According to the State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, in a statement on Tuesday, the technical intelligence and field investigations by the team led to the arrest of the suspect, which later revealed a case of self-kidnapping.

He said that she has confessed to the crime, admitting that the incident was deliberately fabricated to extort money,

In a related operation in Ubiaja, the Command recorded another major operational success as Bush combing strategy yielded success, Ikoedem said.

The Divisional Police Officer, Ubiaja personally led a coordinated bush-combing operation around Akwocha Camp and adjoining forest corridors, in collaboration with the Nigerian Military and the Edo State Security Corps (ESSC).

A concealed forest enclave identified by the drone squadron through intelligence generated from air surveillance as a suspected kidnapping and logistics base, was stormed.

“This resulted in the arrest of eleven (11) male suspects believed to be members of an organized kidnapping syndicate.

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“Exhibits recovered include twenty-four (24) Dane guns, seventeen (17) cutlasses, three (3) battle axes, gun powder, torchlights, mobile phones, solar panels, assorted charms, one Daylong motorcycle, and the sum of ₦209,700.00 cash, among other exhibits.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, has strongly warned members of the public against engaging in false kidnapping reports and other deceptive acts, noting that such actions waste critical security resources, divert attention from genuine emergencies, create unnecessary panic, and undermine public confidence, hence anyone caught will be prosecuted accordingly.

He further reiterated the Command’s resolve to sustain technology-driven policing, aggressive forest domination, and intelligence-led operations to dismantle criminal networks across the state.

He urged encouraged members of the public to continue supporting the Police with timely and credible information through the following lines: