A 31-year-old man has been arrested by the Delta State Police Command for allegedly attempting to kidnap his aunt, who had raised him from the age of five.

The suspect, Chukwemeka Destiny, was paraded on Saturday by the command’s spokesman, SP Edafe Bright, who said Destiny had paid N900,000 to people he believed were kidnappers to abduct the woman.

Edafe said the plot was one of a disturbing pattern of violence against those who extend help to others.

“We’ve had cases where workers killed their employer. We’ve had cases where security men killed their bosses just because they want to cut away their jewelry,” he said.

According to Bright, Destiny had lived with the aunt for 10 years, from age five to 15, before leaving without maintaining contact with the family.

“All of a sudden something just came up to his mind that let me kidnap my auntie who trained me, who saw me through school, and that was what he did,” Edafe said.

He said Destiny made two separate payments to the would-be abductors, an initial deposit of N200,000, followed by a second payment of N700,000.

He said the plot unravelled after the men Destiny approached turned out not to be kidnappers. Rather than carry out the abduction, they used him as bait, lured him in and handed him over to the police.

“Unknown to him that the people he contacted were not kidnappers. They rather used him as bait, got him and handed him over to the police thereby saving the life of his auntie,” Bright said.

When interrogated, Destiny admitted guilt but said he could not explain what led him to target the woman.

“Sincerely speaking to you, I am guilty of what really happened. I don’t know what came over me. I can’t tell,” he said.

The suspect, who said he is a married father of two, attributed his action to the devil when pressed further.

“Yes sir. It is devil’s work,” he told the police spokesman.

Destiny said he runs a haulage and building materials business and that the money paid to the suspected kidnappers came from his business proceeds.

“I made a deposit of 200,000 at first. Then the next day made a deposit of 700,000 making it 900,000,” he said.

The aunt, who described Destiny as the son of her elder sister, told journalists she was shocked when she learnt of the plot.

“I was shocked. Crying,” she said. trying to hold back tear.

She said that after leaving the house at 15, Destiny had not returned to visit her, even though she sometimes saw him in the neighbourhood.

“He just disappeared. Just hanging around the street. But he will not come to our house,” she said.

Asked whether the law should take its course or whether mercy should be shown to her nephew, the woman was unequivocal.

“Anything they know to do such people, you should do it to him,” she said.

Bright praised her stance, saying it was the attitude citizens needed to adopt.

“People like this, see, without cases where they carry their loved ones, say they just want to kidnap for money, and they end up killing the person. So you should allow the law to take its course,” he said.

The suspect is being held by the Raiders squad of the Delta State Police Command pending further investigation. (The PUNCH)

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