I staged my kidnap to extort N25m from family, Delta man

A Nigerian man has confessed to faking his own kidnapping in a bid to extort 25 million naira (approximately $17,000 USD) from his family. Michael James, from Edo State but residing in Delta State, detailed his scheme in an interrogation video released by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe.

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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.

James explained that he resorted to the elaborate deception because he owed his brother and sister money, which he had already spent. On July 1, he was tasked with disposing of refuse. Instead of returning home, he abandoned his wheelbarrow and hid in a nearby bush. He then contacted his mother, claiming he had been kidnapped and that his abductors were demanding the substantial sum.

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On the 1st of this month, they asked me to go and dispose of refuse, but instead of returning home, I abandoned my wheelbarrow and hid in a nearby bush.

According to his confession, James later called his mother again, fabricating a story about being beaten by his captors and demanding a transfer of 700,000 naira. He became anxious when he learned that the police and local vigilantes had initiated efforts to find him. As rain approached later that day, he left his hiding spot on a motorcycle, relocated, and then contacted his family to falsely report his escape.

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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.

Police Public Relations Officer Bright Edafe confirmed that the command used digital intelligence to trace James's location. "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," Edafe stated. "He later confessed that he kidnapped himself so he could extort his family the sum of N25m."

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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.