The police at the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, which comprises Lagos and Ogun States, have arrested two individuals in connection with the manufacturing of fake cough syrup.
The suspects were paraded before newsmen on Thursday by SP Umma Ayuba, the spokesperson for the Zone 2 Police Command.
The arrested suspects were identified as 33-year-old Chisom Ndukwu and Mark Chukwuemeka.
According to SP Ayuba, a petition was filed by Walter Anyaoha, the Managing Director of Wihyaland Pharmaceutical Limited. He alleged that his trainee, Chisom Ndukwu, who had been living with him, suddenly left the house without notice. Upon checking his shop, he discovered that four cartons of JVI drugs valued at nine million, six hundred thousand naira were also missing.
Ayuba stated, “Detectives from the Zonal Anti-Crime Unit, led by CSP Omotayo Adegbite, began an investigation which led to the arrest of Chisom, along with his accomplice, Mark Chukwuemeka, who is involved in the production of adulterated cough syrups.”
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SP Ayuba added, “During a search conducted in the houses and premises of the suspects, bags containing packs with the inscription of DSP Codeine Cough Syrup, empty bottles, and covers of cough syrup drugs were recovered.”
The suspects admitted to the crime and mentioned an accomplice named Kosi, who is currently at large. The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are being intensified to arrest the fleeing suspect.
Additionally, a 21-year-old girl, Ruth Livinus, who faked her own kidnapping in connivance with her cousin and boyfriend, has been arrested by policemen from Zone 2. The police stated that the plan to fake the kidnapping was perfected by Ruth, her cousin, and her boyfriend, all of whom have been arrested.
The suspects were also paraded before newsmen on Thursday by SP Umma Ayuba, who stated that the boyfriend and his younger brother provided the venue where the girl was kept.
The Zone 2 Police spokesperson said that a case of kidnapping was reported to the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters, by one Jona Jumai.
The complainant stated that sometime in May 2024, her sister Ruth Livinus, who works as a domestic staff in the Ajah area of Lagos, went missing.
The Zone 2 Police spokesperson added, “A few days later, the complainant’s family members were contacted via a strange telephone number, informing them that Ruth had been kidnapped and was in the custody of the kidnappers who demanded five million naira for her release.”
SP Ayuba said that the suspects were trailed and arrested in their hideout in the Ikorodu area of Lagos by operatives of the Zonal Anti-Piracy Unit, led by SP Mariam Ogunmolasuyi.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the purported kidnap victim, Ruth, along with her boyfriend Isaac Gabriel and cousin Jeremiah Boniface, had prearranged the kidnapping to extort money from her employer and family members in order to start their own business.
Ruth, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, stated that she agreed to the fake kidnapping because she was tired of her job as a domestic help.
She said, “When I told my cousins and boyfriend that I was tired of the domestic help job and that I wanted to start a business, I was asked how I would raise the money to start the business.”
She added, “After weeks of deliberation, my cousin suggested we lie to my mom that I was critically sick, but my boyfriend said that wouldn’t work. Instead, they decided to tell my mom that I had been kidnapped.”
“It was Gabriel who eventually brought up the idea of the kidnapping. I knew him through my cousin, and we became lovers.”
She continued, “Initially, I didn’t want to do it, but I was forced by Gabriel because of his own selfish interest.”
She pleaded, “I want to appeal to my mom to withdraw the case because I was forced into it. I knew my mom didn’t have the financial strength to raise five million naira. I am the first child. I want her to forgive me.”
She confessed, “We had only collected N50,000 from my sister before we were arrested. I just came to Lagos six months ago to work because of the bandits in Kaduna State.”
