Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have reportedly arrested a husband and wife (names withheld) who were said to have staged the kidnap of their daughter.

It was gathered that the purportedly kidnapped daughter was a staff of a popular commercial bank in Warri, Delta State.

It was gathered that the parents were arrested on Sunday night after the police operatives who had been monitoring the incident received intelligence reports that the parents had allegedly staged their daughter’s abduction.

Recall that the Delta State Police Command had recently declared a 21-year-old lady, Stephine Solomon, missing.

It was noted that Stephine of Okumagba Estate, Delta State who is 5ft tall, dark in complexion, with no tribal marks and who speaks Pidgin English and Urhobo languages fluently had reportedly left home on July 19, 2021 at about 0820hrs to work at Okumagba Estate and had not returned since then.

The police said that all efforts made to trace her whereabouts ever since had proved abortive and called on anyone with useful information of the whereabouts of the victim to please report to ‘B’ Division Warri, PPRO’s office Asaba or the nearest Police Station.

Sources however said that the parents of Stephine who reside at Olomu Street in Warri were still being interrogated by the Police B-Division, Warri as of Monday evening.

One of our sources alleged that Stephine Solomon, a staff of Heritage Bank, located at Okumagba Estate, Warri, Delta State had helped her parents to secure a loan of N17 million from the bank.

It was learnt that the couple borrowed the money from the bank for business development but failed to pay back the loan for a long period while the bank had been on their throat to return the loan, to no avail.

But it was gathered that the couple in an attempt to raise money to defray the loan had purportedly resorted to stage-managing their daughter’s kidnap.

Meanwhile, the alleged kidnap victim was yet to be released, according to the sources.

When contacted, the acting police public relations officer for Delta State Command, DSP Bright Edafe said he could not confirm the report as such had not been brought to his knowledge as of the time of filing this report.