19-year-old Margaret Ikumu, of Oni community in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State has confessed to faking her own death on social media to avoid financial pressure from her mother.
DSP Bala Elkana, the Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, made this known in a statement on Sunday.
Elkana said that Ikumu, through her Facebook account, reported her own death a few days ago and was secretly buried by her two friends, Marvelous Mary and Nneka Buddy, at Ajah area of Lagos.
He said “The family of the fake deceased further stated that they were able to establish contact with the said friends who confirmed to them that their daughter is dead.
“To make them believe that the girl is dead, they sent WhatsApp chats to a member of the girl’s family with the picture of a casket showing that the girl has been buried.
“The family also got in touch with a man on the phone who claimed to be her boyfriend. He corroborated the claim that she was dead.”
According to him, she was eventually found by the Police to be alive and was working as a housemaid in an estate at Ajah.
“When her employer saw the report of her purported death, they quickly informed the Police and she was brought to Ajah Police Station.
“In her statement, she confessed to having created the Facebook account and posted her obituary with intent to keep her family away from her.
“She said that her mother was putting financial pressure on her by constantly demanding that she sends money to her,” he added.
The DSP also said the girl was very upset with her mother and uncles over their inability to sponsor her education after the death of her father.
He further said that Ikumu came to Lagos to work to save some money and return to school, NAN reports.