Nwosu: Kidnappers attack policemen, free prime suspect

An inspector was almost murdered yesterday while four policemen were with the prime suspect in the abduction of Toyin, the wife of The Sun newspapers’ Deputy Managing Director, Mr Steve Nwosu. The inspector, identified as Moronfola Oyeniyi, is now battling to stay alive at an undisclosed hospital in Festac.

The prime suspect was said to be leading the policemen to where Toyin was being held when armed men, believed to be the masterminds of the abduction attacked them. The policemen called for reinforcement and arrested 15 suspects in the area. The men who attacked the policemen about 9am, hurriedly made away with the prime suspect, Oyeniyi’s service pistol and his AK47 rifle. Oyeniyi and three other policemen, who are attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, were attacked around Festac-Agboju area of the metropolis by men believed to be of northern extraction.
The armed men were said to have appeared from the canal area and pounced on the policemen. Three of the policemen escaped, but Oyeniyi was not so lucky. He was attacked with machetes. One of his colleagues said: “We don’t know if Fola (Oyeniyi) will live. We are praying for him. His situation is very bad. The Hausa men just appeared from the canal area and attacked the policemen. They took Fola’s service pistol and AK47 rifle.” The prime suspect was said to have been arrested during ongoing investigation and had finally cracked under intense interrogation.
He was also said to have agreed to take the policemen to where Toyin was being held. “Minutes after the attack, our men re-enforced and stormed the area. They arrested 15 people and recovered Fola’s service pistol.
The 15 suspects have denied being part of those that attacked Fola and his team,” said a policeman. Meanwhile, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has called on Toyin’s abductors to immediately release her. While urging the police to leave no stone unturned in the search for the hostage, Agbaje prayed for a swift and happy ending to the travail of the Nwosu family. Agbaje, in a statement by his Director of Media and Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, urged Mrs. Nwosu’s abductors to grant her liberty. According to him, her kidnapping was an error and an exercise in futility.
He said: “In the society, journalism is a powerful profession, and practitioners are rendering a significant service of information management. But to suppose that this transmits the average journalists into a wealthy person comes from a warped imagination.
“And then to submit them and their families to this nightmare of kidnapping for ransom is most uncharitable to a group of professionals who toil day and night to make the society a better place.” The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Joe Offor, said he was not aware of any incident at Festac. He, however, promised to call Area E Command, Festac, to find out.