THE Edo State Police Command has arraigned a 24-year-old TikTok content creator, Osarobo Omoyemen, popularly known as “Madam Oil Rice,” for allegedly staging her own kidnapping in a bid to attract followers and increase traffic to her social media platforms.
News Point Nigeria reports that the suspect was brought before a court in Benin City after police investigations revealed that her widely circulated video claiming she had been abducted was entirely fabricated.
Omoyemen had uploaded a viral video alleging that she was kidnapped along Upper Sakponba Road in Benin City and later “rescued” by operatives from Akpata Police Station, who she falsely claimed collected N10,000 from her as bail.
In the video, she appeared distressed while a voice in the background urged social media users to follow her page, a detail that would later expose the motive behind the plot.
According to the Edo Police Command’s spokesperson, CSP Moses Yamu, officers immediately launched an investigation after the misleading video began generating tension and backlash against security agencies.
Yamu said detectives uncovered that the entire kidnap story was staged. During interrogation, Omoyemen confessed she created the fake scenario solely to expand her online influence and gain more TikTok followers.
“It was also discovered that she deleted an earlier video in which an accomplice in the background was appealing to viewers to follow her page, clearly exposing the motive behind the false alarm,” the police spokesperson said.
He added that the false claims were capable of inciting hostility against the police, misleading the public and causing unnecessary panic across the state.
Omoyemen has since been charged to court, while police say efforts are ongoing to apprehend the unnamed accomplices who helped her stage the false kidnap narrative.
The Command warned that anyone involved in generating or spreading fake news especially content that could breach public peace or undermine security agencies would face the full weight of the law.
The police also urged residents to verify information before sharing, noting that sensational falsehoods could provoke unrest and damage the credibility of genuine emergency reports.
