The Delta State Police Command has arrested Nelson Eserada, a 400-level student of Banking & Finance at Delta State University, Abraka, for orchestrating his own kidnapping and demanding a ransom of fifty million naira (N50,000,000) in bitcoin from his parents.
The spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
He noted that Eserada’s father had already paid five million naira to a bitcoin account belonging to Eserada’s accomplice, Jerry Lawrence.
“Following a complaint from the father of Nelson Eserada that his son was kidnapped and that the kidnappers demanded fifty million naira in bitcoin, a video of the supposed victim tied and being tortured was also sent,” Edafe stated.
In response, the DPO of Abraka, SP Fabian Ayameh, led a technical intelligence-led investigation. On June 10, 2024, Jerry Lawrence from Jeddo Community, Warri, was arrested in connection with the crime. Preliminary investigations revealed that Eserada conspired with Lawrence. The suspects are in custody, and the investigation is ongoing.
CP Abaniwonda urged parents to properly train and care for their children, emphasizing that improper upbringing could lead to serious problems. He also advised youths to avoid get-rich-quick schemes, stressing that crime does not pay.
In a related development, following complaints of house-to-house armed robbery incidents in Bonsaac, Okwe, and other areas in the metropolis, Commissioner of Police Abaniwonda Olufemi deployed a new DPO to ‘B’ Division Asaba to address the issue.
On June 8, 2024, the newly posted DPO, CSP Edewor Akponegware, acting on credible information, led patrol teams to the Mango Tree Market, where they arrested John Dalami (25), Musa Suleiman (25), Abdullahi Jibril (20), Solomon Uchechukwu (24), Yusuf Joda (21), Egboka Chukwu Charles (21), and Wisdom Syvester (21). A search at the scene revealed a locally made cut-to-size gun and a live cartridge.
The suspects confessed to a series of house-to-house armed robbery operations in Issele-Asagba, Coka, and Ibusa.
The case was transferred to the special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime squad for further investigation.
Acting on their confessions, the operatives arrested six additional suspects and recovered three more locally made cut-to-size guns from their hideout behind the DDPA estate in Asaba. The investigation is ongoing.
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