Kidnappers Now Go Into Homes In Festac To Abduct

There is tension on E1 Close, 7th Avenue in the FESTAC Town area of Lagos State after gunmen invaded the area and abducted two residents.

The victims are a 26-year-old married woman, Oluchi Jovita, and a 45-year-old man, Remigus Igwe.

Punch Metro learnt that the assailants, said to be four men in military uniform, went to the area in a speedboat around 10pm on Thursday.

It was gathered that the gunmen, who also wore masks, dragged Jovita out of her apartment.

The abductors, who were said to have sneaked into E1 Close through an opening created in a fence, also brought out Igwe, who lived close to Jovita, and whisked away the two victims through a bush path.

Punch was told that the gunmen escaped in a speedboat through the river beside the FESTAC Town link road.

The matter was reported at the FESTAC Town Police Division, and operatives went to the scene, where they searched in vain for the abducted residents and the gunmen.

When Punch Metro got to the area on Monday, Jovita and Igwe’s apartments were locked.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunmen did not shoot in order not to alert anyone, adding that it was the woman’s husband who went to the police station.

He said, “It was around 10pm on Thursday. Most of us had locked our gates. The gunmen went to the apartments of their victims and ordered them out at gunpoint. They did not use the gates and they did not shoot so as not to arouse suspicion.

“It was after they had left that news got to me that two persons were abducted. The policemen came to this place, but the gunmen had escaped. We suspect that there could be an insider giving information to the kidnappers.

“The two residents have yet to return home. Their families may have been contacted for ransoms, but nobody knows.”

A police source at the division said the operatives saw the footsteps of the gunmen, adding that their escape was successful because they came on a speedboat.

He said, “The woman’s husband, Eze, came to the station around 11pm to report that his wife and another neighbour had been abducted.

“Policemen from the division mounted a stop-and-search points on the roads, but there was no result.

“We came across the kidnappers footsteps along the bank of the Amuwo Odofin river. That made the arrest difficult because the hoodlums came and escaped through the waterways. They broke the fence and attacked their victims.”

Punch correspondent gathered that the matter had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Intelligence and Investigation, Yaba.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.

She said, “The case is under investigation. Effort is in top gear to get the abductees freed.”