Student kidnap case takes bizarre twist

Sep 29, 2014

A student recently found after reportedly being kidnapped is being held for questioning after it emerged he faked the kidnap.


By Taddeo Bwambale
 
KAMPALA - A Senior Two student in Kampala who sparked a city operation to rescue him from kidnappers last Wednesday is being held for questioning after it emerged he reportedly faked the kidnap.
 
Samuel Namanya, 18, a student of Vienna High School, was allegedly kidnapped at about 6:30am local time on his way from home in Simbwa zone, Kabowa Parish in Rubaga division.
 
His alleged kidnappers had demanded a sh20m ransom from his mother Sedridah Natukunda, 42, a businesswoman in Owino market.
 
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango on Monday told New Vision that Namanya had faked the kidnap in order to obtain money from his mother so he could travel to Dubai.
 
“The student, together with some friends claimed that they had got jobs in Dubai and wanted to get six million shillings from his mother to fund the trip,” Onyango said.
 
An intense operation by security operatives led by Police’s elite Flying Squad unit combed through several city suburbs during the two-day search operation.
 
Namanya’s alleged captors asked his mother to deposit sh98,000 before she could talk to him.
 
The teenager reportedly feigned torture pain as he spoke to his mother on phone.
 
The unsuspecting mother alerted Police, triggering a frantic search for her son’s captors who had asked her to deposit the ransom on two mobile phone numbers.
 
Namanya and two of his friends are held at the Central Police Station, pending investigations into the case.
 

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