A secondary school drop-out, Ruth Livinus, was arrested yesterday for faking her own kidnapping in a scheme to extort money from her widowed mother to start a hairdressing salon.
The 27-year-old was apprehended along with her live-in boyfriend, Isaac Gabriel, whom she claimed had suggested the plan.
At a press conference at the Zone 2 Police Command in Onikan, Lagos, SP Ayuba Umma, the Zonal Public Relations Officer, explained, “A case of kidnapping was reported to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters, by Jona Jumai. She reported that her sister, Ruth Livinus, who works as a domestic staff in Ajah, Lagos, went missing in May 2024.
“Days later, the family received a call from an unknown number claiming that Ruth had been kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of five million naira to be paid into a designated account.”
To create fear and pressure the family, a picture of Ruth tied up in a bush was sent to her mother.
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The mother managed to pay N60,000 before police tracked them to their hideout in Ikorodu, Lagos.
Ruth, originally from Kaduna state, expressed regret over her actions.
She told journalists, “I wanted to use the money to open a hairdressing shop. My boyfriend, Gabriel, suggested the idea. We were caught because my stepsister tracked the number used to contact my mother, leading the police to us. I only managed to collect N60,000 before we were arrested.”
Isaac Gabriel, 24, however, claimed that Ruth came up with the idea.
“Ruth is a friend; she said she wanted to open a shop, and I told her to ask her mother. She initially suggested telling her brother she was sick, but we thought the money wouldn’t be enough. She then proposed pretending to be kidnapped. I only supported the idea,” said Gabriel, who is from Benue State.
The pair were paraded alongside 21 other suspects arrested for various crimes.
