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By: Manoah Kikekon
According to sources familiar with the situation, armed assailants kidnapped Mohamed Fouani, director of electronic distributor Fouani Group, and at least two others on Friday during a deadly ambush in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin told the Peoples Gazette that he had not yet been briefed on the attack Saturday afternoon, but that an investigation had already begun to unravel the situation. Multiple sources with information said it happened near the Falomo Bridge.
The Fouani Group, led by Mohamed Fouani and other prominent Lebanese businesspeople, is Nigeria's leading distributor of LG and Hisense products. The company has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident.
According to sources, the abductors contacted people near the victims and demanded a $1.5 million ransom. The Gazette was unable to independently authenticate this demand or determine whether it came from the abductors.
According to a Lagos police source, the incident will likely unnerve the command, which has previously boasted of its ability to keep kidnapping-for-ransom activities under control in the state even as they spread throughout the country.
The majority of expatriates and diplomats in Nigeria are based in Lagos, particularly in the affluent Ikoyi neighbourhood, where security was long thought to be above frequent breaches by motivated assailants.