By Joseph Undu

A 30 year old man, Olufemi Akinwa, an accountant with Eternal Oil & Gas Plc, reported to have been robbed and kidnapped when his company sent him to withdraw $50, 000, has been arrested by operatives of the Lagos Police Command for alleged phantom kidnap and robbery case.

According to a police source, contrary to the report that Akinwa was robbed and kidnapped, the suspect had planned his kidnap, threw his telephone into the sea before going to stay in Epe area of Lagos.

Akinwa, who spoke with Vanguard, said: “I have been working with the company for five years before my arrest on November 18. I was on my way to the bank and was chatting with a friend in the UK called Kingsley on phone.

“He asked me where I was, and I told him I was in the bank to withdraw money for my company. He then said he needed $15,000 out of that money, that he has deportation problem.

‘I don’t know what came over me’

“He told me he was going to be deported and that if I helped him with the money, he would help me promote my music in the UK.

“I did not know what came over me. He said he was going to send someone to collect the money. On getting to where the person was, the person collected the money and my phone.

“When I realised that I had wasted my company’s money, I was scared and confused and did not know what to do. I had to hire a motorcyclist to take me to Bariga Primary School, where I hid the money in a block at the back of the school.

“If I had taken it home, my wife would have raised questions.

“I took a taxi to Epe to go and commit suicide. But when I got there, I was like, ‘before I die, let me go and report this case as a robbery case.’

“So I went to the police station at Epe and reported the case. That was where State Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, recovered the money.

“When they took me to SARS, after all the torture, I had to tell them what really happened.”

Akinwa, who said he was contented with his monthly salary of N120,000, denied the police report that he faked his kidnap.