The Edo State Police Command has arrested an 18-year-old girl, Obehi Odine, for allegedly staging her own kidnapping in Ekpoma and demanding ₦10 million ransom from her parents.
The announcement was made by ASP Eno Ikoedem, the police spokesperson, on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. The police also arrested 11 suspected kidnappers during a bush-combing operation in Akwocha Camp and surrounding forest corridors. The operation was conducted in collaboration with the Nigerian Military and the Edo State Security Corps (ESSC), with firearms and cash recovered from the suspects.
According to the statement, the new Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ekpoma, CSP Tomofe Nwabueze, immediately deployed operational resources after a suspected kidnapping report along Old INEC Road on January 12. Investigations revealed that Obehi Odine had fabricated the incident to extort money, and she has since confessed to staging the crime.
In a related operation in Ubiaja, police stormed a concealed forest enclave identified through drone surveillance, believed to be a kidnapping and logistics base. This led to the arrest of 11 male suspects, with the recovery of the following exhibits:
24 Dane guns
17 cutlasses
3 battle axes
Gunpowder, torchlights, mobile phones, solar panels, assorted charms
One Daylong motorcycle
₦209,700 cash
Commissioner of Police CP Monday Agbonika warned the public against false kidnapping reports, noting that such actions waste critical security resources, divert attention from real emergencies, and create unnecessary panic. He reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to technology-driven policing, intelligence-led operations, and aggressive forest domination to dismantle criminal networks across Edo State.
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