Abakaliki, Ebonyi State — A shocking and strange story has come out of Ebonyi State where a 16-year-old girl, who is a secondary school student, pretended to be kidnapped and asked her family to pay ₦2 million to “free” her.
The girl, an SS2 student at a private school on Watchman Street in Abakaliki, did not act alone. According to the police, she planned the fake kidnapping with the help of a family friend.
Police said the girl was supposed to return to school on Saturday for the start of the third term. But instead, she disappeared and later contacted her brother using a phone that didn’t belong to her. She told him that she had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding ₦2 million for her release.
When her brother asked to speak with the kidnappers and wanted to know where she was, she refused. Then she blocked his number. After that, she sent a bank account number to him and told him to send the ransom money there. That account belonged to the family friend helping her.
The police traced the phone number used to send the messages and found out where the girl was hiding. They went to the house and arrested everyone involved.
At first, when police questioned the girl, she told a different story. She said she left home to buy second-hand clothes (also called “Okirika”) and someone tapped her from behind. She claimed she passed out and later woke up at Ishieke Junction, far from her home. Instead of going home, she said she went to the house of the family friend—who, she claimed, didn’t even know she had gone missing.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Joshua Ukandu, said the girl has now been reunited with her family, and a full investigation is ongoing.
Because she is still a teenager, the police are handling the matter carefully. But depending on what they find out during the investigation, legal action might be taken.
This story has shocked many people in the state, and it teaches an important lesson: playing such a dangerous prank can cause serious problems for everyone.
