By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The duo of Mr Chinedu Nwobi, aged 25, and Mr. Okwudili Nweke, also 25, have been arrested by the Anambra State Police Command for allegedly conspiring with one Obiora Okoye to fake the kidnap of an 18-year-old girl, Miss Mmesoma Ifediora.

According to a statement by the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the two suspects were arrested on March 14, 2026 while the 'kidnapped Mmesoma was rescued at a forest popularly known as Malaysia Forest” located at Iruayika, Awkuzu, community in Oyi Local Government Area of the state

Giving insight on the criminal conspiracy, Ikenga said that Mmesoma reportedly conspired with her boyfriend, Obiora Okoye, who escaped during the arrest, to fake her abduction and demand for N3000,000 ransom from her parents but they managed to send in N240,000 through her Opay account, scouting to pay the remaining balance.

He said: "Upon interrogation, the rescued victim confessed that the kidnapping was staged in collaboration with her boyfriend, Obiora Okoye, with the intent to extort the sum of Three Million Naira from her parents.

"She revealed that they had both taken an oath of secrecy and had been moving from one location to another over a period of about two months to sustain the deception.

"However, Obiora the boyfriend of the victim also known as “Stainless,” fled the scene upon sighting the Police and is currently at large. To this end, the victim admitted that her parents had already paid the sum of Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira into her Opay account as part of the ransom demand."