I faked my kidnap for N3m ransom due to childlessness —Pastor’s wife

The wife of a pastor of a new generation church, Mrs Victoria Elijah Ndu, who was alleged to have kidnapped herself while demanding a ransom of N3 million from her husband and church members, has confessed to have carried out the crime, saying she did it to raise money after being abandoned by her husband after years of childlessness.

Mrs Ndu, 30, is currently being detained at the state police command headquarters, Ikot Akpanabia, Akwa Ibom State, for abducting herself, while negotiating with her husband and relations for the payment of the ransom.

Speaking during her parade by the police command in the state alongside 140 other suspects arrested for various offences, Mrs Ndu admitted that the thought of faking her own kidnap to raise money stemmed from alleged abandonment by her husband following years of childlessness, which resulted in face-off between her husband, the in-laws and neighbours.

According to her, “After courting since 1998, we finally got married in 2007. I had six miscarriages and the last one was so severe that I had to be operated upon.

“Because of the problem of childlessness, people were taunting me and my husband jeered at me all the time before finally abandoning me and starting a new relationship with another girl at the University of Uyo.

“I pleaded with him to dissolve the marriage so I can be free to walk away to pick up the broken pieces of my life, but he refused. When my mother died, he refused to help me so I can give her a befitting burial.

“Faced with this situation, I was asked to adopt children, but there was no money to do that.

“In order to raise the cash for the burial of my late mother as well as to adopt two children, the thought of kidnapping myself came to me,” she said.

“I had to escape to Owerri, Imo State and stayed with my brother, while negotiating for the ransom of N3 million after I had contacted my husband that I had been kidnapped,” she added.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Muazu Zubairu, who addressed journalists for the first time since he assumed duty in the state, said “we arrested her in Owerri, through our network and discovered the kidnap was a scam.”

Besides, the CP said the police have arrested one of the suspected armed robbers, who robbed government officials of N4.5 million, withdrawn from a second generation bank along Barracks Road, Uyo.

He said N2.8 million had been recovered from the criminals, with various brands of arms and ammunition, including AK 47 and two cars.

The police boss, therefore, warned cultists, hoodlums and political thugs, who had been terrorising Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun Local Government Areas of the state ahead of the November 11 council polls, to steer clear of the state.