The Anambra State Police Command has apprehended two individuals involved in staging a fake kidnapping in an elaborate scheme to extort ₦10 million from a family member.
Identified as Chinecherem Okonkwo, a 28-year-old female student of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), and 30-year-old Chinecherem Aronu, the pair allegedly orchestrated the false abduction with the intent to extract money from Okonkwo’s family.
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This was revealed in a press release issued Monday by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who stated that officers from the Rapid Response Squad acted on intelligence and tracked the suspects to a lodge at the UNIZIK Temporary Site in Awka.
“The Anambra State Police Command has arrested two suspects involved in a self-orchestrated kidnap incident designed to extort money from the victim’s own family,” the statement read.
“Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad acting on an intelligence-led investigation of a disturbing report of alleged abduction of Chinecherem Nwaokoye, a female student of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), stormed a lodge located at UNIZIK Temp Site, Awka, where the victim was found alive and in the company of her male accomplice.”
According to the report, Okonkwo had initially told her family on July 8, 2025, that she was en route home from school but never arrived. The following day, the family received a phone call from a male voice demanding a ₦10 million ransom for her release.
Negotiations eventually brought the amount down to ₦3 million, with ₦1 million allegedly deposited into the victim’s personal bank account.
During questioning, both suspects admitted to fabricating the entire event. Okonkwo confessed to conceiving the idea after watching a film, hoping to use the ransom money to help her boyfriend start a business.
Police Commissioner CP Ikioye Orutugu has since ordered that the suspects be prosecuted immediately, labeling the incident as a disturbing example of moral decline among some Nigerian youths.
He also urged parents to remain vigilant: “The Command will not tolerate such criminal deception and called on parents and guardians to pay closer attention to the activities and peer influence on their children.”
