Ruth Livinus, a secondary school dropout, admitted yesterday that she faked her kidnapping to extort money from her widowed mother to start a hairdressing salon. The 27-year-old was arrested along with her live-in boyfriend, Isaac Gabriel, who she claimed suggested the idea.
The suspect, along with her boyfriend and his brother, devised the plan together. They provided the location and the phone used to contact her mother. During a press briefing at the Zonal Command, SP Umma Ayuba, the zonal spokesperson, revealed that a kidnapping case was reported to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters. The report, filed by Jona Jumai, stated that her sister, Ruth Livinus, who worked as a domestic staff in the Ajah area of Lagos, had gone missing in May 2024.
A few days later, Ruth Livinus’ family received a call from an unfamiliar number claiming she had been kidnapped, with the kidnappers demanding a five million naira ransom to be paid into a specific account. To instill fear and compel her mother to comply, a photo of Ruth tied up in a bush was sent. Her mother managed to pay only N60,000 before authorities tracked them down to their hideout in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
Ruth, sounding emotional, expressed regret for her actions. “I wanted to use the money to open a hairdressing shop for myself. My boyfriend, Gabriel, sold the idea to me. We were caught because my step sister tracked the number used to contact my mother, and that led the Police to us. I have only succeeded in collecting N60,000 as ransom before we were arrested.”
Her boyfriend, Gabriel, claimed that the idea was originally Ruth’s. The 24-year-old explained that Ruth, who was a friend, wanted to open a shop and he advised her to ask her mother for money. Ruth first suggested telling her brother she was sick, but they thought the amount sent wouldn’t be enough. She then decided to lie about being kidnapped, and he simply supported the idea.
