SUSPECTED KIDNAPPER OF THE SUN DMD’S WIFE ARRESTED BY POLICE

ORIGINALLY FROM VANGUARD

By Evelyn Usman

Lagos Police have arrested one of the  suspected kidnappers of  wife of The Sun  Deputy Managing Director, Mrs Toyin Nwosu.

The suspect, Vanguard gathered, was arrested in Kogi State.

SUSPECT                    VICTIM

However, the suspect,  Odo Sylvester, an undergraduate of  Kogi State University, claimed he only posed as one of the kidnappers in order to extort money from Mr Steve Nwosu, to buy some handouts and furnish his apartment.

Sylvester, a 200 level student of Economics, told  a bewildered crowd at the Lagos State Police Command where he was paraded alongside 44 other suspected criminals, yesterday that he demanded N2 million as ransom from Mr. Nwosu.

He said: “I am not a kidnapper. I do not know what a kidnapper  looks like. Greed led me into this. When I read about the kidnap of The Sun DMD’s wife abduction, I decided to  hijack the opportunity to play a fast one on her husband in order to raise money to buy some handouts and also furnish my apartment.

“Immediately, I bought a copy  of The Sun newspaper and got the number of the  DMD from the back page. I dialled the number and demanded for N100,000 from him, saying I would assist him secure the release of his wife. He told me he had N2.5 million on ground as ransom. When I heard that, I became cold because I have never counted a million in my life, let alone N2.5 million.

“He told me to send my account details but I told him  I would get back to him. When I called again, I demanded for N2 million.

“Again, I called next day to negotiate on how to get the N2 million, only for him to inform me that  some people had called him, claiming they were the abductors. That ended my call to him. This thing started in a day and also ended in one day.

“But to my shock, some plain clothes policemen stormed my school while I was in class and whisked me away. I am not a kidnapper. I never collected any money from them. My intention was just to collect the N100,000 and refund anything more than that,” he said.

Briefing newsmen on the arrest, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, said investigation was still ongoing to apprehend others involved in the abduction of Mrs Nwosu.

It would be recalled that  Mrs Nwosu  was abducted right in the presence of her family members, from their Lagos residence in Amuwo-Odofin, Festac area, Lagos, at  about 2:30am on Monday, September 14, 2015, by some gunmen  who invaded the area.

Her abductors  were  said  to have escaped through the canal at Amuwo area  with Toyin, who was, however, released a few days later.