ASABA, Nigeria The briefing ran long on Saturday, and Commissioner of Police Yemi Oyeniyi had three very different cases to show for it. The Nation reports that the Delta State command’s list included a young man who invented his own abduction, two suspects accused of blaming officers for a deadly crash they never caused, and two women held over a newborn allegedly headed to a buyer.
The kidnapping that wasn’t
Michael James, 22, walked out of his home on July 1, telling family he was going to dispose of refuse. He did not come back. His relatives later reported him missing and said kidnappers were demanding N25 million for his release.
Operatives moved on technical intelligence, the commissioner said, and ringed the nearby bushes. James then walked out of hiding and told officers he had slipped free of his captors. Interrogation produced a quieter story: he had spent money his sister gave him, and staged the abduction to raise funds to replace it. He remains in custody.
A crash, and a false story about it
On June 27, a commercial tricycle on the Ughelli-Patani Expressway was rammed by a newly bought, unregistered Mercedes-Benz GLK SUV driven by a civilian. Catherine Umokoro, 51, died. Four other people were injured. Police say no officer or police vehicle had any part in it.
Two men stand accused of inventing the version that spread on social media anyway, the one that put police at the wheel. The pair held are Egoh Best Akpobome, 35, and Omonigho Jitobor, who is 42, arrested for allegedly originating and circulating the false reports.
A newborn saved
In a third operation, officers rescued a two-week-old baby boy. His mother told police a woman known to her only as “Mama” had said the newborn would be taken to an orphanage; when she later tried to see the child, she was turned away. Investigators moved in and arrested Evelyn Otubo and Esther Joseph, allegedly caught waiting with the newborn for an intending buyer. The child was unharmed and back with his mother.
A warning, and a traffic sweep
Oyeniyi used the same briefing to warn families that a relative might stage an abduction for financial gain, and to urge vigilance against child traffickers. Separately, officers impounded 31 vehicles in an Agbor enforcement push on July 3, for offences from obstructed number plates to expired documents. Led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police for Operations, it covered Agbor metropolis, the major highways and the border communities between Delta and Edo states, and the commissioner said it will continue.
