Mrs. Toyin Nwosu, the abducted wife of the Deputy Managing Director of the Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Steve Nwosu, has been freed by her abductors.
Kidnapped since Monday, Mrs Nwosu was freed by the abductors very early on Thursday.
Her abductors dropped her off near Zenith Bank by Festac Bridge and sped off with their boat, according to sources close to the family.
It is yet to be known if any ransom was paid to secure her release.
However, Nigerians groups and various political organisations had condemned her kidnap and demanded that she should be freed unconditionally.
The mother of four was kidnapped from the family home of Nwosu in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos in what the police described as a case of robbery since the assailants also robbed two flats in the vicinity.
She was then whisked away in a speed boat through the Amuwo Odofin canal.
The robbers had scaled the fence of Nwosu’s compound and pulled down the burglary proof on one of the windows to gained entry into the apartment.
“When the banging continued, I realised that it was happening in the palour.
“Then I saw them jumping into the living room and instantly pointed their guns at me.
“Three of them were in the parlour at that time. One of them was wielding an AK 47 rifle, one a pistol, while the third was having a sledge hammer with which they pulled down the burglar proof.
“Immediately, they started shouting: ‘Bring the money! Bring the money! There and then, I started pleading with them that there was no money in the house. But they persisted.
“Then they forced me to lie face down on the floor; they began stepping on me and hitting me. In the process, I sustained injuries in my lips.
“At that point, the noise of the encounter woke up the children who rushed to the parlour and began screaming, ‘daddy, daddy!’
“Then, the gunmen herded them into their room and locked them all up. Instantly, the children obeyed them and stopped screaming.
“Then, they went for my wife and again screaming: ‘where is the money!, Where is the money and the jewellery too!’
“They took her to all the rooms, and began ransacking everywhere. When they could not get anything, they returned to the parlour, took a scarf and blindfolded me.
“They told me to get up and follow them. Then as they were going out, they changed their mind and took me back to the parlour and then asked my wife to go and dress up because she was putting on a pyjamas at that time.
“Again, they told me to lie face down still blindfolded. Then suddenly, I heard people shouting ‘ole, ole’ outside, and a gun shot followed. Later they shot at the people screaming. This was what I learnt afterwards.
“Realising that they might have left, I stood up and started searching for my wife. It was in the process that I discovered that the children were locked up in their room.
“Eventually I came out when I could not see my wife; then I was told by neighbours that four other men were outside waiting for the three that came inside the house. I was also told that they took my wife into a boat and sped off.
“The whole operation lasted for about 30 minutes. It began with the banging at the window at about 1.50am. At that point, I was even too confused to call anybody, not even the police,” Nwosu had said.
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“It was probably robbery taken too far. They also robbed a neighbour who jumped over the fence and sustained some degree of injury. Even when we are under Okota Police jurisdiction, it was the police from Festac Division that came. The roads leading to our area is very bad,” he had added.
