Edo Police Arrest Woman for Faking School Kidnapping Video in Benin City

Uzebor Emmanuel, known on social media as "Aza Woman," has been arrested by the Edo State Police Command for allegedly broadcasting false information about a kidnapping at Western Boys' College Ikpoba Hill and Green Park Academy Aduwawa in Benin City. The video, which was widely shared online, claimed that armed individuals had broken into the schools and abducted students.

According to the suspect's account in the video, six students were taken away in different minibus vehicles, with some allegedly escaping their captors and others paying ransom to secure their release. The claims were specific enough, and shared widely enough, to trigger genuine public fear across the city.

None of it was true.

SP Eno Ikoedem, the Command's Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the arrest and stated that the false disclosures caused widespread panic, heightened public anxiety, and risked eroding public confidence in Edo State's security infrastructure. The suspect will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.

It is worth being direct about why this matters beyond one person's bad decision.

Nigeria is currently in a period of heightened anxiety about school kidnappings. The Oriire abductions in Oyo State are unresolved. The Mussa kidnappings in Borno are unresolved. Parents across the country are already on edge. In that environment, a video claiming that children have been snatched from two schools in Benin City does not just spread misinformation. It activates a very real, very justified fear that parents, students, and communities have about something that is actually happening elsewhere in the country.

Security agencies respond to credible threats. When false alarms are generated, those resources get diverted. Community members panic. Parents rush to schools. Roads get congested. And somewhere in all of that noise, the credibility of genuine distress signals gets diluted.

The case of Qawiyu in Ogun State, who staged a fake bandit attack video to gain TikTok followers, is barely weeks old. Now Edo State has its own version, this time with schools and children as the subject matter, in a country where school kidnappings are not hypothetical.

The Edo State Police Command's message to the public was unambiguous. Verify information before sharing it. Use credible sources. Do not use social media to spread content that can disturb public peac