A 40-year-old woman, Joy Sunday, has been arrested by operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for conspiring with others to kidnap her husband, Emmanuel Sampson Ebong.
According to available information, the woman and the kidnap gang demanded for a ransom of N10 million to free him.
Sunday, who spoke on Friday with newsmen during her parade before newsmen, revealed the reasons she organised for the kidnap of Ebong, for whom a N2 million ransom was eventually paid.
She said during her parade alongside 29 others by the Command’s Commissioner, Olatoye Durosinmi: “I arranged for my husband’s kidnapping because, for a long time, he had abandoned me with his children.
Even when my father and mother-in-laws were alive, he abandoned me.
“He never cared for his children.
“I engaged in menial jobs such as weeding on people’s farms to feed my children and pay their school fees.
“One of the children finished from secondary school and I approached my husband to plan how to send the son to learn trade since the father refused to send him to university, but my husband shunned me.
“The major reason I arranged for his kidnapping is that my husband refused to have sex with me and does not take care of me and the children.”
Sunday, however, said she was yet to collect her share of the ransom before they were arrested by the police.
She said: “The kidnapper that collected the ransom of N2 million never gave my share and I don’t even see the money.
“It was when the kidnappers were sharing the N2 million that the police arrested them and they mentioned me.
“They never gave me any part of the ransom collected from my husband.
“The kidnap kingpin (now at large), identified as Udo Moji, assured me that he would collect the money from my husband for me since my husband attacked me and poured soup on me.
“So, I agreed with him and he kidnapped my husband.
“I ran around to gather money to pay the kidnappers.
“The main suspect, Udo Moji, ran away.”
Also speaking with newsmen, Ekong said: “I was kidnapped on July 21, 2022 in my compound.
“I came back from where I went for treatment because I was weak.
“Around 8:30pm, I saw about six people in my compound.
“They struggled with me and fired two gunshots into the air.
“I struggled with them before they took me out of my compound in a minibus and drove away.
“They kept me from that Thursday till Sunday and demanded N10 million from me and later reduced it to N2 million before the police came that day.
“If not for God, they would have killed me.
“They took me to Etinan where they kept me.
“I thank the Nigeria Police for the rescue operation.
“I also thank my Village Head.
“I don’t know the reason they kidnapped me.
“They collected N2 million from me.
“The police later recovered over N500,000 from them.”