A 44-year-old driver, Oluwamuyiwa Adeoya, was yesterday arraigned by the police in a Karmo Grade I Area Court, Abuja, for allegedly faking his own kidnap and deceiving his friend into paying N350,000 as ransom.
Adeoya, who resides in Karamajiji Area, Abuja, is charged with two counts of criminal breach of trust and cheating.
The prosecution counsel, Ijeoma Ukagha, told the court that the complainant, Adebesin Daniel of Plot 20b Kucgiko Estate Bwari, Abuja, reported the matter at the Life Camp Police Station, Abuja, on August 27.
Ukagha alleged that on August 23 at about 5:30p.m., the defendant called the complainant, pleading for his assistance. The prosecutor alleged that the defendant told the complainant that he was abducted alongside one of his sons on the Kaduna-Abuja Express road. She said the defendant pleaded with the complainant to help him pay the ransom of N350,000 with a promise to pay back upon his release.
Ukagha added that during police investigation, the defendant confessed to the crime, while efforts made to recover the money, failed. The offence, she said, contravened the provisions of sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.
