The Edo State Police Command has uncovered an elaborate kidnapping scam involving a woman who allegedly staged her own abduction and conspired with accomplices to extort ₦50 million from her family through a fabricated ransom plot.
Police said the operation led to the arrest of four suspects, including the alleged victim, Mrs. Oluchi Ugbowan, and the recovery of a firearm used to create fake ransom videos intended to convince her relatives that she was being held captive by kidnappers.
According to the Command, the case began on June 1, 2026, when Mr. Tony Ugbowan of Agbor Road, Benin City, reported that his 45-year-old wife, Oluchi, had been kidnapped while travelling to her shop at Ramat Park along Agbor Road. He told investigators that he had received a call from a concealed telephone number on May 28 demanding a ransom of ₦50 million for her release.
Following the report, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit launched a discreet investigation, deploying intelligence and technical resources to unravel the circumstances surrounding the alleged abduction.
The breakthrough came with the arrest of a 28-year-old suspect, Israel Ability, at Ramat Park in Benin City. During the operation, police recovered the mobile phone belonging to the purported victim. Investigators said the suspect confessed that he had been contracted by Mrs. Ugbowan to negotiate ransom payments with her family while presenting her as a kidnap victim.
Further investigations led detectives to a hotel in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State on June 5, where Mrs. Ugbowan was arrested. Police said she subsequently confessed to orchestrating her own kidnapping and directed investigators to the residence of another accomplice, 38-year-old Ochukwudem Uwadia.
According to the police, the residence served as the location where videos showing Mrs. Ugbowan with her hands and feet tied were produced and circulated to relatives as evidence of her captivity. Investigators also discovered that Uwadia’s 18-year-old son, Chibuzor Ochukwudem, allegedly appeared in the videos pointing a firearm at her head to lend credibility to the staged kidnapping.
Police said all individuals linked to the criminal conspiracy have now been arrested. A search conducted at the premises resulted in the recovery of an automatic pump-action gun allegedly used during the production of the ransom videos.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner of Police in Edo State, CP Monday Agbonika, commended the operatives for what he described as a painstaking and professional investigation that exposed the deception.
The police commissioner warned that the Command treats every kidnapping report with utmost seriousness and deploys significant resources to rescue victims and apprehend perpetrators. He cautioned members of the public against engaging in false kidnapping schemes, stressing that such actions constitute serious criminal offences and divert vital security resources away from genuine victims.
The Command also urged residents to promptly report suspicious activities to law enforcement authorities and avoid actions capable of causing public fear or panic.
The latest arrest comes amid intensified efforts by security agencies to combat kidnapping and related crimes across Edo State and other parts of the country, with police reiterating their commitment to ensuring that both real kidnappers and individuals involved in fraudulent kidnapping plots face the full weight of the law.
