Ruth Livinus, a 27-year-old secondary school drop out who was arrested for faking her kidnap has revealed that she faked her own kidnap to extort money from her widowed mother for the purpose of establishing a hairdressing salon.
Livinus was arrested together with her lover, Isaac Gabriel whom she reportedly sold the idea to.
While parading the culprits alongside 21 other suspects arrested for various crimes at the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, the Zonal Police spokesperson, Ayuba Umma, said, “A case of kidnapping was reported to the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters, by one Jona Jumai, that sometime in May 2024, her sister, Ruth Livinus, who works as a domestic staff in the Ajah area of Lagos, went missing.
“Few days later, the family members were contacted via a strange telephone number that Ruth Livinus had been kidnapped and was in the custody of the kidnappers, who demanded a five million naira ransom to be paid into a designated account.
“A picture of her in a bush path, with hands and legs tied, as gathered, was sent to her mother to create fear and force her to meet the kidnappers’ demand. Her mother was said to have managed to pay N60, 000 only, before they were trailed to their hideout in Ikorodu area of Lagos.”
However, while speaking with newsmen, Ruth, who was born in Kaduna State, expressed regrets over her actions, saying: “I wanted to use the money to open a hairdressing shop for myself. My boyfriend, Gabriel, sold the idea to me. We were caught because my stepsister tracked the number used to contact my mother, and that led the Police to us. I have only succeeded in collecting N60,000 as ransom before we were arrested.”
The boyfriend, Gabriel, on his part however, said Ruth kept the idea away from him.
According to the 24-year-old Benue State- born, “Ruth is a friend; she said she wanted to open a shop, and I told her to tell her mother. She initially suggested we should tell her brother that she was sick, but we concluded that the money that would be sent would not be much. She then said she would lie to her mother that she had been kidnapped. I only supported the idea.”
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