Gunmen kidnap Sun director’s wife, demand N100m ransom

• Police launch manhunt for suspects
• Abduction, barbaric, says PDP

There is a sharp disagreement in police circle over the abduction of wife of the Deputy Managing Director of The Sun newspapers by suspected armed robbers

Wife of The Sun’s Deputy Managing Director/ Deputy Editorin- Chief, Mr Steve Nwosu, was kidnapped on Monday by suspected robbers after attacking their home at 20 Bale Street, Waterside, Okota area of Lagos State. 

The seven armed robbers, who came in boats, were said to have stormed the area through the waterway, about 2:30am. They attacked Nwosu’s home after robbing other buildings in the area.
According to residents, three of the gang members entered the house while the remaining four mounted guard outside. The robbers were said to have broken the glass of a window and removed the burglar-proof before gaining entry. It was learnt that Nwosu tried to call his security guard on the phone when the robbers were trying to force their way inside the house.
But, the man’s mobile phone was switched off. However, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, said it was not abduction but robbery. Owoseni said that residents of the area made it easier for the bandits to gain entry into the premises by leaving a ladder a painter had used earlier in the day to paint some of the buildings.
The gunmen gained access into some of the buildings they robbed through the use of the ladder. However, Nwosu said he was still waiting for the kidnappers’ call as at 11:30am. He said the robbers/kidnappers stormed his home around 2:30am and ransacked the house. According to him, when they did not find any money, they took his wife, Toyin.
They also escaped through the waterway. The kidnap of Toyin has caused confusion among policemen in the Lagos State Police Command. Some policemen described the bandits as kidnappers, while others insisted they were armed robbers. Some policemen said they believed that Nwosu was actually the target of the gunmen, stressing that the robbery of other flats was to disguise the bandits’ real intention.
Some argued that among all the flats that were robbed, it was only Nwosu’s home that a hostage was taken. The men apparently took the woman because no money was found at home, but in most robberies, robbers usually cart away jewellery, phones and ATM cards, even demanding for PIN at gunpoint. Nwosu agreed with policemen who said that the bandits were robbers. He said: “The robbers came around 2am.
They had earlier robbed a house down the road before they came to our own. They searched everywhere, but found nothing, so they took my wife. I’m still waiting for them to get in touch with me.” Addressing journalists yesterday on the matter, Owoseni said: “The robbery incident happened about 3am. I said it is a robbery because two flats were robbed. Steve’s wife was taken hostage. The robbers escaped with boat through the creeks. “People in the estate aided the robbers by leaving a ladder that was used by a painter to paint some of the buildings in the estate.
The robbers climbed into the compound using the ladder and gained access. I don’t want to talk much on the matter, so as not to jeopardise our ongoing investigation. “I, however, want to assure residents in Lagos that we have deployed all the resources we have, both human and material, in making sure we liberate the woman and also get the hoodlums.”
Asked what the Marine Police are doing to check robbers using the waterway, Owoseni said there were challenges with that wing of the command. He said: “Marine Police are still active and not moribund. We, however, have logistic challenges, but Marine Police still patrol the waterways.
“We are presently partnering with the Navy and communities that settle along the waterways. The logistic challenges are not only in the Marine. One million policemen would not be enough in Lagos.” The commissioner said that like most journalists, he and his men were worried about this odd crime, but promised that the police would get the bandits. Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the abduction of Nwosu’s wife as barbaric and devilish. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, expressed worry over the spate of abductions in the country.
Metuh, however, expressed confidence that the security forces would track down the abductors and expose those behind the crime. He said: “We stand together with the government against all enemies perpetrating criminal acts against lives and property in our dear nation.”
Nwosu is one of the greatest columnists in Nigeria. Before his appointment as Executive Director, he was the Daily Editor of The Sun. On August 30, a columnist with Vanguard, Donu Kogbara, was abducted in her family house in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.