Uganda Police have detained a 20-year-old Liberian man working as a missionary volunteer in Nyendo, Masaka District, for faking own kidnap.
Police spokesperson, Mr Fred Enanga said on Monday that they received a report from Walter Chatora, the national mission president, The Church of Jesus Christ that Taulus Zanto was at around 11pm on January 2, 2020 kidnapped by unknown people who were demanding for $20,000 (about Shs74m) ransom if they wanted to see him alive again.
However, Zanto was tracked and arrested alongside his alleged accomplice, one John Makumbi, a Ugandan.
“A task team was created and a search operation, located the victim at a hideout in Nyendo Masaka district, where it was established to be a false story, but a plot to get quick money. He had conspired with an accomplice Makumbi John, a former workmate, who was actually pretending to be his abductor and was using a phone to demand for ransom,” Enanga said.
Enanga added that they had launched an awareness campaign to fight cases of extortion, where criminals lie about kidnapping a loved one and then demand for money.
“The suspects are being charged with conspiracy, giving false information and demanding by menaces,” he added.
