University Students in Lagos Orchestrate Fake Kidnapping Scheme, Demand Bitcoin Ransom

The Lagos State Police Command has apprehended two undergraduate students who devised a deceptive kidnapping scheme aimed at extorting money from their own parents.

The suspects, identified as 21-year-old Balogun Ayodele, a second-year student at Lagos State University of Education, Ijanikin, and his accomplice, Okuomo Dennis, also 21 years old and a student at the National Institute of Information Technology, Lagos, were captured after spending a week in hiding in the wilderness without securing any ransom from their families.

According to reports, Dennis initiated the plan to stage Ayodele’s abduction as a means to extract funds from his father, who is employed as a driver at an undisclosed company. On February 2, 2024, Ayodele disappeared from his residence, subsequently sending his father a ransom demand of $20,000 in Bitcoin for his safe release.

When their initial ransom attempt failed, the duo resorted to more drastic measures, taking Ayodele to a nearby forest where they photographed him in a compromising position and threatened his father with the images if the ransom was not paid.

Undeterred by their initial failure, Dennis orchestrated his own disappearance, with the hope that his father would comply with their demands for ransom. Employing the same tactics, they escalated their ransom demands to $80,000 and then $100,000.

Their elaborate scheme unraveled when they emerged from hiding on March 16, 2024, claiming to have escaped from the clutches of their supposed kidnappers. Ayodele was promptly taken to the hospital for medical attention, as his father believed he had been genuinely abducted.

However, their deceit was short-lived as they eventually surrendered to authorities and confessed to their fraudulent actions during the ensuing investigation.

This incident serves as a cautionary tale about the lengths some individuals are willing to go to for financial gain, even at the expense of exploiting their own families. The Lagos State Police Command has assured the public that appropriate legal action will be taken against the perpetrators to ensure justice is served.