The Kwara State Police Command has arrested two foreign nationals over their alleged involvement in a foiled kidnapping and extortion plot, recovering the mobile phone reportedly used to issue threatening calls to the victim.
According to the police, the operation was launched after a report was lodged at the Okuta Police Division by one S. Ismaila of Okuta, who alleged that he had received several threatening phone calls from an unidentified individual.
The caller allegedly demanded ₦22 million to prevent the victim’s planned abduction. The suspect also reportedly threatened to kidnap the complainant and kill his younger brother, Musa Ismaila, if the ransom demand was not met.
Following the complaint, police operatives immediately deployed intelligence-driven strategies in collaboration with the Intelligence Response Team (IRT). With technical support, the operatives tracked and arrested two suspects identified as Yakubu Ismaila and Hadiza Kosia, both nationals of the Republic of Togo.
In a statement, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said preliminary investigations linked the suspects to the alleged criminal conspiracy.
She added that the suspects confessed to their roles in the attempted kidnapping and extortion scheme during interrogation.
Police also recovered a mobile phone allegedly used to make the threatening calls. The device has been taken into custody as a key exhibit as investigations continue.
The command said further investigations are ongoing to determine whether the suspects are connected to other criminal activities and to identify any additional accomplices.
