Police in Kwara have arraigned a woman, Odunayo Olaniyi, for allegedly faking her own kidnap and that of her 10-year-old son for a ransom of N500,000 from her husband.
Also arraigned on Friday before a Chief Magistrates’ court in Ilorin, Kwara State was Abdulrauf Folorunso and Afolabi Adesina on three counts of self-kidnap, false representation and asking for ransom which they denied.
Chief Magistrate Ibrahim Dasuki ordered that Mrs Olaniyi be remanded in a correctional centre.
He also ordered the remand of the other defendants and adjourned the case until October 10 for hearing.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Nasir Yusuf, told the court that on September 19, the complainant, who is also the defendant’s husband, Segun Olaniyi, who works at the Kwara Road Traffic Management Authority, Ilorin, reported the case at the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Police Headquarters, Ilorin.
Mr Yusuf said the complainant told the police that he received a message from his wife, Odunayo, that she had been kidnapped.
He alleged that Odunayo also told him that their 10-year-old son had also been kidnapped and that the abductors were demanding N500,000.
Yusuf said that during discreet investigation, the police discovered that Odunayo, Folorunso and Adesina, had stage-managed the kidnap.
The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 9, 14, and 12 of the Kwara State Prohibition of Kidnapping Law 2010.
