The Benue State Police Command has arrested two women for allegedly staging a fake kidnapping scheme to extort money from a family.
This was reported in a statement published on Thursday and made accessible to journalists in Makurdi by the spokesman of the Command, DSP Peter Aondongu.
Aondongu said one of the suspects identified as Mary Torkuma, who resides at Akpehe, Makurdi, left her home on July 12, 2026, to meet a friend Miss Evergreen Samuel at North Bank, a suburb of the state capital.
The police official said the two ladies were suspected to have colluded to deceive Torkuma’s family to pay ransom for her claiming she had been kidnapped.
The statement read in part, “On 15th July 2026, a report was received by the Command’s Violence Crime Response Unit, Makurdi, that one Miss Mary Torkuma of Akpehe, Makurdi, had left her apartment on 12th July 2026 to visit a friend at North Bank area of Makurdi.
“The following day, her mother, who resides in Lagos State, received a telephone call from an unknown number demanding ransom and claiming that her daughter had been kidnapped.”
Aondongu said the operatives of the Violence Crime Response Unit, while conducting an intelligence-led investigation, traced the alleged victim, Mary Torkuma and her accomplice, Evergreen Samuel to a hotel in the Ankpa Quarters area of Makurdi.
He added that Samuel had travelled from Abia state to take part in the alleged scheme.
Further investigation by the police has revealed that the suspects allegedly planned the fake abduction to extort money from Torkuma’s mother by creating an impression that she had been kidnapped, the police spokesperson said.
He said the suspects were in police custody as investigations were ongoing, adding they would be charged to court after the completion of the probe.
The statement quoted the Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, as warning residents against engaging in criminal activities, including staging false kidnapping incidents.
Such acts divert security resources from real emergencies, and are punishable under the law, the commissioner said.
The Command assured residents of its continued commitment to intelligence-led policing and urged members of the public to report any suspicious activities to the nearest police station.
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