Abductors of Sun DMD’s wife demand N100m ransom

The unknown gunmen who stormed the residence of the Sun Newspapers Deputy Managing Director, Mr Steve Nwosu, early Monday morning, and abducted his wife, Oluwatoyin, have now demanded a ransom to free the woman.

The gunmen were said to have demanded a N100 million ransom to effect a release of Toyin, who has now spent nearly two days in captivity

According to Nwosu, the abductors established contact with him Monday afternoon, demanding the said amount before his wife would be released to him.

The gunmen, numbering about seven as gathered, stormed Bale Street in Ogundiaro Bashorun Sunmonu Akanwo Estate, Okota at about 1am.

They were said to have gained entrance into a building close to Nwosu’s house with the aid of an abandoned ladder used to paint the building.

But on sighting them, the owner of the building was said to have scaled the fence to another street, where he sought refuge.

Thereafter, they stormed Nwosu’s bungalow by scaling the transformer fence and pulled the iron grille (burglar-proof) on the window, before gaining entrance into the sitting room.

The sound from the window apparently woke up Nwosu, who left his bedroom to ascertain where it was coming from, only to be accosted by three gun-wielding men who ordered him to lie flat.

“I thought the sound was coming from another place. I went to the toilet, put off the light and peeped through the window. It was then I heard a bang in the sitting room. By the time I came out, they had jumped in and pointed the gun at me. I raised my hands because, as a matter of policy I do not argue with anyone with a gun. They started slapping and kicking me and at the same time asked: ‘Where is the money’?

“I told them I had no money in the house, which was true, but they did not believe me. They continued beating me with a horse whip and asked if my wife had no money as well. I said I would not know, that the only money she should have was a cheque of N50,000 I gave to her to get some things in the house.

“At that moment, my children, who were sleeping in the sitting room after watching television, started screaming. They took them into one room, locked them up and came back for me. They marched my wife and I round the rooms, ransacking the whole place. They demanded her jewelry. After searching and finding nothing, one of them said: ‘Mopol, let us go, we are wasting so much time.’

“At that point, I was blindfolded and taken outside. But they brought me back inside and asked my wife to get dressed, while I was still blindfolded.

The next thing I heard were sporadic gunshots outside, followed by shouts of: ‘Ole!’ It was at that point I knew they had left. The first person I asked after was my wife, who was nowhere to be found. I went into the room where my children were locked and found them. The operation lasted 30 minutes. They came in at about 1.50am and left after 2am. I rushed outside and was told that they went away in a motor boat through the canal. I was told that about four of them were outside with guns while three came inside,” narrated Nwosu.

The gunmen went away with assorted drinks from the shelf, some perfumes, two iPads and three phones.

But before leaving, one of them was said to have told him to contact them on one of his (Nwosu) phones that was taken away, adding that they were on their way to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Nwosu however said he suspected that the gunmen were robbers.

He said: “I think it was robbery that was taken a step too far because they also robbed a building. But you can’t go to a journalist’s house and expect to get money. They may assume one has money on seeing this bungalow but they don’t know how one struggled to build it.”

He also disclosed: “Robbers have been to my house last year and they were lucky because it happened a few hours after my wife’s birthday. So all the money and gifts people gave her was in the house and they took them. But this time around, there was no money in the house.

“They have established contact with me and said they would get back. My appeal is for them to release my wife for me. She does not have any money.”