Nigeria : Wife stages own kidnap to defraud husband

A 45-year-old housewife, Hadijat Kabir, arrested by police in Lagos for allegedly faking her kidnap and that of her 18-year-old daughter to defraud her husband of N15 million (about $42,000), claimed she committed the act because her husband took a second wife and abandoned them.

According to Hadijat Kabir, who was paraded alongside other notorious suspects at the state police command, Ikeja, she wasn’t kidnapped but hid herself and daughter so the husband would think that they were kidnapped.

“I did not ask for N15 million; I only asked for N500,000. I did that because I have a family. My parents are alive and I have responsibilities. Each time my parents called that they needed help, I could not assist them, because I did not have the means despite the fact that my husband is wealthy.

“He has refused to live up to his responsibilities because he married another wife. He abandoned our children, even when he knows that one of our daughters is mentally challenged.

“My husband keeps building houses everywhere in Lagos and yet anytime I requested for money, he shouts that he does not have money. If he does not have, can’t he at least tell me gently instead of shouting at me each time I make financial request?

“We have been married for 27 years, yet there is nothing he has done for me despite the fact that I struggled with him when he had nothing. I was with him when he established his company and because of the company that is why my daughter is not alright. I did not use my daughter for ritual. I don’t want to harm my daughter.

“My daughter who is mentally challenged had convulsion when she was a baby and it affected her. She is 18 years old. I am from Ibadan. I don’t know any of the other suspects.”

‘Kidnap,’ ‘rescue’
It was learned that on July 2, Alhaji Kabir Muraino reported to the Police that his wife Hadijat Kabir and his daughter Hamidat Kemi, who is of unsound mind, were kidnapped on their way to Psychiatric Hospital, Oshodi, Lagos.

He said the kidnappers were demanding N15 million before the hostages would be released. Based on this, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, directed the Anti-Kidnapping Squad to ensure speedy rescue of the hostages and arrest the suspects.

The operatives mobilised to Ado-Odo, Ogun State, and invaded the camp of the kidnappers. The “hostages” were rescued and two suspects, Ahmed Kudos and Hadijat Rufai, were arrested while the rest fled the scene.

However, trouble started when one of the hostages, Hadijat Kabir, confessed that she planned her kidnap with the suspects to defraud her husband.

She named Wasiu Rufai a.k.a Ojulyawodon (her native doctor), Luqmon Ahmed and Jossy, now at large, as parties in the kidnap plot.

How she carried out plot—Husband
Denying his wife’s claim about his wealth, Alhaji Muraino said: “I am really surprised at what is happening. I don’t have 10 houses. The problem is she is never satisfied. I have given her money several times to start business with, but she has never raised any meaningful thing from it.

“So many times, she has stolen my money. The last was N200,000. On Thursday she told me that she wanted to take our daughter, who is physically challenged, to a hospital at Oshodi for treatment.

“I was surprised about the sudden demand, since I have been spending on medication for the child. But I still gave her some money. Later that morning, I called her three times, but she was not reachable.

“Then by 2p.m., I received a call from her number, but the voice was strange. The stranger said my wife and child had been kidnapped, and that I must pay N15 million for their release.

“My wife also spoke to me in tears, that I should release the money to them. After much plea, they agreed to collect N1.7 million. But by then, I had reported the matter to the Police. So the Police trailed them. But I paid nothing, before the Police apprehended them."

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria