The Ondo State Security Network Agency, commonly known as Amotekun, has detained two secondary school girls who were apprehended by corpsmen for reportedly faking their kidnapping and seeking compensation from their mother.
The suspects were paraded at the command headquarters in Akure, the state capital, on Monday by the state Commander of the Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, who said the two female students were 13 and 15 years old. They were both believed to be in JSS 1 and JSS 3.
The suspects, according to the commander, hid somewhere in Oka-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of the state, and called their mother, claiming to be kidnappers who snatched them and demanded N100,000.
Adeleye further alleged that the girls pretended to be kidnappers and phoned the monarch of their village, threatening him to pay the ransom within 24 hours or they would kill the abductees in their custody.
He said, “The 28 suspects we are parading today (Monday) shows that we have more kidnapping than any other criminal activities. This is in continuation of our efforts at ensuring that kidnapping in Ondo State becomes a thing of the past.
“We have people who kidnapped themselves and raised alarm and in our diligent investigations, we were able to unravel the mystery surrounding their disappearance to the extent that they have confessed.”
The Amotekun chairman stated that the suspects were apprehended in coordination with Department of State Security officers because the telephone line used by the girls was traced to their location.
One of the girls who confessed to the crime stated that her elder sister persuaded her into it.
The 13-year-old said, “On that day, my sister and I spent the night in our grandma’s place and left there around 6:00 am the following day. While on our way back home, my (elder) sister told me that she had a plan to get money from our mother.
“She then revealed her plan to declare ourselves kidnapped and asked for N50,000 each ransom from our mother. It was my sister who taught me what to say when they put a call through to my mother.
“When we called we didn’t know that it was the monarch that was speaking with us on the phone and we threatened to kill our victims in captivity if they failed to pay the ransom quickly.”
