Christ Embassy Kidnap: Fraudsters Call Family, Demand Ransom

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The family members of a missing four-year-old, Elo Ogidi, have been left confused as different kidnap gangs have called to demand ransom for her release.

PUNCH Metro had reported that Elo got missing during a church service at the headquarters of the Christ Embassy in Oregun, Lagos.

Elo was reportedly with the maid during the church’s children thanksgiving service last Sunday when she went missing.

Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone, Elo’s father, Afokoghene Ogidi, said different kidnappers had called the family claiming to have kidnapped Elo, adding that the gangs demanded different ransom.

He said, “Several people have been calling us, demanding ransom but they are fraudsters that picked our numbers from the flyers around.

“We believe that these fraudsters are from the same place using different numbers.

“One of them called and demanded N2.5m, telling me that if I did not provide the money within 24 hours, he would kill my daughter. He later called me back that day demanding N500,000 to feed my baby.

“When I got home, I didn’t call him back because I know a kidnapper will not ask for feeding upkeep.”

Ogidi, who further disclosed that he tracked the phone number of the gang which revealed the location they were calling from, said he told the member to put his daughter on the telephone.

“He called me the second day and told me that I did not want to comply and I told him I would comply, adding that I would give him more than the amount he asked for if only he could allow me to hear my daughter’s voice.

“But he could not provide my daughter; he was just repeating the same statement of me not complying. With the trauma I was going through, I told him I know his location and I will get him arrested, so he stopped calling,” Ogidi said.

Ogidi, who noted that another kidnap gang called his sister to demand N18m  ransom, said all the gangs that called the family had their locations in Port-Harcourt.

He said, “Another gang called my sister to demand N18m and she told them that she wanted to hear her daughter’s voice, the fraudsters gave the phone to an adult to mimic baby’s voice.”

Ogidi, who told PUNCH Metro that the family had been traumatised as a result of the incident, said he could not wait to have his daughter back.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said he would find out about the case and get back to our correspondent, but he had yet to get back as of the time of filing this report.