Kidnappers Raise Blood Pressure in Lagos …Kill 3 Guards, Abduct Landlord

Matilda Omonaiye & Olaoye Ademola

Despite the death penalty now attached to kidnapping in Lagos, the scourge is still alive and kicking.
Today, at Isheri North GRA, about 11 gunmen killed three persons and abducted a landlord.

Another incident in Alimosho Local Government Area shot up the adrenaline of residents, this morning, when a woman was seen moving suspiciously with five toddlers.
Those who stormed the Isheri community allegedly made it through a swampy canal and engaged the Vigilantes in the area in a gun battle shortly after midnight.
Newsmakers learnt from residents that the gunmen were shooting for more than one hour at the residence of a landlord identified as Mr. Dayo Adekoya.
They eventually abducted him, after shattering his burglar proof and glass window through which they gained entry into his apartment.

Detectives found that the gunmen went upstairs and dragged Adekoya out of where he was hiding. They took him to another building and tried to use him to lure the residents out. The move was aborted when the police arrived.

The slain guards were identified as newly deployed members of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), who fought the gunmen with machetes.

When Newsmakers visited the crime scene, the Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni and the Commandant 9th Brigade Cantonment, Ikeja, Brig. Gen. Elias Attu, were there on inspection. 

Owoseni said, “The area is porous and vulnerable. It is also border-less, but we are working to ensure that the area is safe and such will not re-occur. There is no society that is free of crime. From our findings, three persons were killed and two persons were wounded. Two of those killed are vigilantes, while the third person is a bricklayer.” Reacting to the kidnap incident, the Isheri North GRA Resident Association Chairman, Mr. Remi Osijo in a press statement on Thursday said, “At about 00.30 hours of February, 2017, a group of armed men numbering about 11 stormed a home in our estate, Isheri North, GRA, Lagos. They laid siege to the house for about one hour trying to gain entrance. Our security team that responded swiftly to distress call from the occupants put up a gallant fight but succumbed to the superior power of the assailants. Three of our security men lost their lives and a resident Mr. Dayo Adekoya was also kidnapped.  The entire residents of Isheri North GRA are devastated and struggling to come to terms with this dastardly act.

“The estate executive is already working with the Lagos State Police Command and other State security apparatus towards finding swift resolution to this crisis.  We are also condoling with the families of the deceased while praying for the safe return of the kidnap victim to the family.” 
In the Alimosho incident, the residents had almost lynched the woman before one of them called the police from Gowon Estate.

The Police later informed the residents that the suspect claimed to be a homeless woman returning from the Redeemed Camp and had spent the night on Ajani Akingbogun Street.
The police also revealed that another woman later surfaced at the station claiming ownership of three of the children.

The message was passed across to a Human Rights lawyer, Mrs Ogwu, who had followed the case to the police station.
A resident, who simply identified himself as Alhaji Ahmed appealed to the Ministry of Women Development and Poverty Alleviation to take the little children from the women before they grow up on the street and take to crime.

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