19-Year-Old Girl Fakes Own Death Over Financial Pressure From Family

 

A 19-year-old girl identified as Margaret Ikumu, who faked her death on social media narrates that she did so to avoid financial pressure from her mother.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, DSP Bala Elkana, disclosed this on Sunday.

According to the statement, Elkana said that Ikumu, who came into Lagos with the intent of making money to return back to school, faked her own death on Facebook, claiming that she was secretly buried by her two friends, Marvelous Mary and Nneka Buddy, at Ajah area.

“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.

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“To make them believe that the girl is dead, they sent WhatsApp chats to a member of the girl’s family with a picture of a casket showing that the girl is 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 is dead,” he said.

"The girl was eventually found by the police to be alive and 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 (Ikumu) confessed to having created the Facebook account and posted her obituary with the 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. The girl was apparently bitter with her mother and uncles over their inability to sponsor her education after the death of her father.

"She admitted using the photograph of her employer’s daughter, Dr. Nimechi Ugorji, without her knowledge, as her profile photo in the fictitious Facebook account she created. But her uncle, on seeing the obituary, downloaded the profile picture and reposted it, calling on members of the public who knew the person on the photograph to report to the nearest police station. An investigation is ongoing.”