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A Delta State resident, Michael James, has admitted to staging his own kidnapping in an attempt to extort ₦25 million from his family. In an interrogation video released by the Delta State Police Command, James confessed that he orchestrated the fake abduction because he owed his brother and sister money he had already spent and had no means of repaying. He said that on July 1, after being sent to dispose of refuse, he abandoned his wheelbarrow, hid in a nearby bush and set his plan in motion.
According to the police, officers launched an investigation after receiving a report that James had been kidnapped. Using intelligence and digital tracking, operatives traced him to a bush where he was hiding. When he realised the police had closed in, he emerged claiming he had escaped from his abductors. However, during questioning, he confessed that there had been no kidnappers and that he had staged the incident to pressure his family into paying the ransom demand.
The Delta State Police Command said the suspect has been taken into custody and will face prosecution after investigations are concluded. The command warned that making false kidnapping claims diverts security resources from genuine emergencies and urged members of the public to refrain from such criminal acts.
