By Ismail Auwal
Gombe State Police Command arrested a 32-year-old tricycle rider for faking his own kidnapping.
The rider, Halilu Aiiyu, was apprehended alongside Ahmed Ladan, a 42-year-old man suspected of being the rider’s accomplice.
He reportedly devised the scheme to raise funds and repay his sister, who had been questioning him about the tricycle she had given him.
According to the state police command, Aliyu’s problems began when he sold the tricycle given to him by his sister for profit.
“The first suspect, Haliru Aliyu ‘m’ of Tudun Wada quarters Gombe was given a tricycle to ride by his sister in-law after his business collapsed,” Mary Malum, spokesperson of the Gombe police command, said in a statement.
“However, the said suspect later sold the tricycle for N250,000 without the knowledge of the owner.
“When the owner asked for the tricycle or her money, the suspect failed to bring any.
“Because of the shame, according to him, on December 30, 2021, the suspect went to his friend’s house, the second suspect, one Ahmed Ladan ‘m’, where they criminally conspired and faked a kidnap of the said Haliru Aliyu with the intention to extort his elder sister one Zainab Aliyu ‘f’ aged 42yrs of the same address, the sum of N500,000 to enable him to refund the money.”
