Author: TAMUNOFINIARISA BROWN

Ebonyi State Police Command says a 16-year-old SS2 student at a private secondary school in Abakaliki has faked her own kidnapping.

The command said that the teenage girl allegedly contacted a family member claiming she had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of N2 million for her release.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Joshua Ukandu, told reporters on Monday that a family friend helped her plan the hoax.

Ukandu said the girl attends a privately-owned school located on Watchman Street in Abakaliki.

DAILY POST reports that the girl is a native of Izzi Local Government Area and was due to return to school for the third term on Saturday.

The girl told police she had gone to buy second-hand clothes, known locally as ‘Okirika’, when someone tapped her from behind.

She claimed to have lost consciousness and woke up the next day at Ishieke Junction in Ebonyi Local Government Area.

She stated further that she often dreams of being kidnapped, and her mother regularly prays against it.

Upon regaining consciousness, she asked for directions back to Abakaliki town.

Instead of returning home, she went to the house of a family friend who had no idea she was missing.

Using the man’s phone, she messaged her brother, claiming she had been kidnapped and demanded N2 million ransom.

Her brother asked to speak with the kidnappers and requested their location, but she refused and blocked his number.

Later, she unblocked his number and sent an account number belonging to the family friend hosting her.

Unluckily for her, the phone was tracked.

Police raided the house and arrested everyone involved in the plot.

The police spokesperson confirmed that the command had launched a full investigation into the incident.

The girl has since been reunited with her family, though the matter remains under police investigation due to her age.

Teenage girl fakes own kidnap for ransom – Police

A former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, says the recent gale of defections of opposition leaders to the All Progressives Congress, APC, is due to threats of a witch-hunt by the ruling party.

DAILY POST reports that Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, along with his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, several commissioners, and others, last month defected from the PDP to the APC.

There is growing speculation that more governors may follow suit in the near future.

Ologbondiyan, who spoke on on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, stated that the governors and other opposition leaders defecting to the APC are merely seeking refuge to avoid being hounded by the ruling party.

“You must not forget that the former National Chairman of APC told Nigerians that just come over here, we will forgive all your sins, so people are looking for where sins are forgiven,” Ologbodiyan said.

According to him, no matter how many opposition leaders the APC manages to attract, the party will still have to contend with millions of Nigerians in its bid to retain power in 2027.

“But you know one thing, at the end of it all, it is going to be about the Nigerians’ position.

“You may pack all the 36 governors and put them in one boardroom and say they should declare for you. Have you packed the over 200 million Nigerians into the same boardroom? The answer is no,” he said.

Defections: Politicians looking for safe landing – Ologbondiyan