Kidnappers in Rivers State now invite their victims for interviews where they are abducted.
The police in Rivers State says it has discovered new ways in which kidnappers lure their victims into their nets and making their families part with huge sums of money as ransoms.
The State Police Command stated this in a statement when it said that the kidnappers operate by sending text messages to their victims, inviting them for job interviews and when the unsuspecting victim shows up, they are held hostage while calls are made to their families to negotiate for the ransom.
A man whose family friend fell a victim to the new trick, narrated how it worked:
“Don’t honour any job interview invitation via sms if you did not apply for it. A family friend’s cousin got one of such sms and he attended the supposed interview only to be held hostage.
His family was contacted and asked to pay N5m. After negotiations, the kidnappers told the family that they would accept N2.5 million, which the family could not afford.
The guys (kidnappers) are threatening to kill him (their victim) if the money is not paid.”
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, has however assured residents that the Command would do everything in its powers to ensure that those behind the dastardly act were arrested and brought to book.