A 28-year-old lady, Ruth Livinus, had been arrested for allegedly faking her own kidnap and demanding N5 million as ransom from her parents.

The suspect allegedly faked her own kidnap along with her boyfriend, one Isaac Gabriel and her cousin also identified as Jeremiah Boniface to extort her aged mother of the said amount.

The police said trouble started after the kidnap of Ruth was reported at the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters by one Jona Jumai.

In the report, Jumai alleged that sometimes in the month of May, 2024 her sister, one Ruth Livinus, who works as a domestic staff in Ajah Area of Lagos went missing and that few days later, the family members were contacted via a strange telephone number that Ruth Livinus had been kidnapped and in custody of the kidnappers.

The complaint alleged that the suspects demanded N5 million as ransom and that the money should be paid into a designated account.

Confirming the arrest, the Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Command, SP Ayuba Umma, said the suspects were trailed and arrested in their hideout in Ikorodu Area of Lagos by operatives of the Zonal Anti-Piracy Unit led by SP Mariam Ogunmolasuyi.

Umma said investigation revealed that it was the purported kidnap-victim Ruth Livinus, her boyfriend Isaac Gabriel and one Jeremiah Boniface (her cousin) that prearranged the kidnap to extort monies from her employer and family members.

Ruth, who is the mastermind of the kidnapping, in her confessional statement, said the idea was muted by her boyfriend.

"I want to use the money to open a shop for myself," she said.

She also admitted telling her boyfriend that her mother would be able to raise the money from the sale of her land in Ikorodu.