Police nab varsity student, boyfriend, for staging own kidnap, collecting N1 million ransom from parents
Anambra Police Command has arrested two suspects involved in a self-orchestrated kidnap incident designed to extort money from the victim’s own family.
The suspects are Chinecherem Okonkwo ‘f’, age 28 years old, and Chinecherem Aronu ‘m’ age 30 years old, reports Nigerian Tribune.
According to the State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who disclosed this in a statement in Awka on Monday, ‘Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) acting on an intelligence-led investigation of a disturbing report of alleged abduction of Chinecherem Nwaokoye, a female student of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), stormed a lodge located at UNIZIK Temp Site, Awka, where the victim was found alive and in the company of her male accomplice.
According to the report, Chinecherem had earlier contacted her family on Tuesday, 8th July 2025, informing them that she was returning home from school but never arrived.
Her phone remained switched off throughout that day. On Wednesday, 9th July 2025, her family received a call from an unknown male voice who claimed responsibility for her kidnap and demanded a ransom of N10,000,000 (Ten Million Naira) only.
After negotiations, the ransom was reduced to N3,000,000, and a part payment of N1,000,000 was later paid into the victim’s bank account.
Upon interrogation, the duo confessed to staging the kidnapping as a plot to extract money from the victim’s family.
The female suspect, Chinecherem Nwaokoye, admitted she masterminded the plan after watching a movie and intended to give the money to her boyfriend to start a business.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has directed that the ESUT student and her boyfriend be charged to court without delay and condemned the incident as a clear sign of deepening moral decay among some youths in the society.
He warned that the Command will not tolerate such criminal deception and called on parents and guardians to pay closer attention to the activities and peer influence on their children.
