Pastor fakes own kidnap, collects GH¢15,000 ransom from members

Plateau State Police Command officers have arrested Albarka Bitrus, a pastor in Jos, for staging his own kidnapping and demanding money from his congregation.

Alabo Alfred, the spokesman for the command, said this in a statement on Wednesday. He said that the cleric and his accomplices were arrested after church members paid N600,000 in ransom to get the cleric out of jail.

The statement said, "The Plateau State Police Command has again found out about the bad behavior of one pastor, Albarka Bitrus Sukuya'm' of Jenta Apata, Jos. On several occasions, he and his friends faked his kidnapping and got ransom money from people in his church who cared about him.

"After his fake kidnappings on November 14 and 30, 2022, for which his supporters paid ransoms of N400,000 and N200,000 to get him back, these events made people suspicious.

"Reliable information led CSP Musa Hassan, the DPO of the Nassarawa Gwong Police Station, to invite the clergyman, and the investigation started right away. During the investigation, it was found that the suspect and his gang had been planning to fake his kidnapping and get money by lying about it.

"When questioned, the suspect admitted to having done the crime and named the following people as his accomplices: (1) Baruk Mailale, (2) Nathaniel Bitrus, both males of Yelwan Zangam village of Jos-north, and (3) Aye (surname not known), male of Jalingo, Taraba State."

"The suspect also said that on January 4, 2023, he burned down two cars (a Mercedes Benz and a Toyota) and a bicycle that belonged to his colleagues at ECWA Bishara 3 Jenta Apata. He said that his senior pastor was one of the people who hated him.

"However, police officers from the Nassarawa Gwong Division in the Jos-North Local Government Area were able to catch two of the suspects, Baruk Mailale and Nathaniel Bitrus. More work is being done to catch the third suspect, Aye."

Image: Representative