A Delta State resident, Michael James, has confessed to orchestrating his own kidnapping in a failed attempt to extort ₦25 million from his family after spending money he owed his siblings.
James made the confession in an interrogation video released on Sunday by the Delta State Police Command through its Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe.
In the video, the suspect explained that he devised the plan because he was unable to repay money he had borrowed from his brother and sister.
According to him, he left home on July 1 under the pretext of disposing of refuse but deliberately disappeared after abandoning his wheelbarrow and hiding in a nearby bush.
“My name is Michael James. I am from Edo State, but I live in Delta State. I kidnapped myself. The reason I kidnapped myself was that I owed my sister and my brother, and I had already spent the money. I had no way of paying it back.
“On the 1st of this month, they asked me to go and throw away the trash. After throwing away the trash, I parked my wheelbarrow and entered the bush.
“After some time, my mum started calling me, but I did not answer. Later, I called my mum and told her that I had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding N25m. Then I ended the call,” he said.
James further disclosed that he later contacted his mother again, falsely claiming that his supposed abductors had assaulted him and demanded an initial payment of ₦700,000.
He admitted that he became alarmed after his mother informed him that the police and local vigilante groups had begun efforts to locate and rescue him.
According to the suspect, worsening weather conditions later forced him to leave the bush. He travelled on a motorcycle to another location before contacting his family again to claim that he had escaped from his captors.
“They kept calling me, but I did not answer. Later, when I picked up, I told her that the kidnappers were flogging me and that she should transfer N700,000 to them.
“They kept calling again, but I did not answer. When I later picked up, my mum told me that the police and vigilantes were already handling the matter and that they would rescue me.
“In the evening, I realised it was about to rain, so I took a motorcycle to another place. I then called them and told them that I had escaped from the kidnappers,” James narrated.
Confirming the incident, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, said the command immediately launched an investigation after receiving a report that the suspect had been kidnapped.
According to Edafe, the police employed digital intelligence to trace James’ location before discovering that the alleged abduction had been staged.
“We received a distress call that he was kidnapped. The command embarked on digitally generated intelligence and trailed him to where he was allegedly being kept, only for the suspect to run out, claiming he escaped from the kidnappers.
“He later confessed that he kidnapped himself so he could extort his family the sum of N25m,” Edafe stated.
The incident adds to a growing number of cases involving individuals who fake kidnappings to defraud relatives.
In June, the Ogun State Police Command arrested eight foreign nationals in Adiyan, Agbado area of the state, for allegedly staging a similar self-kidnapping scheme to extort money from family members living abroad.
Police investigations later revealed that the reported abduction was fabricated as part of a coordinated effort to obtain money through false ransom demands.
