Gunmen kidnap husband, wife in Ikorodu, Lagos

Gunmen, whose number could not be ascertained have kidnapped a husband and wife in the Alfa area of Igbogbo in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The couple was said to have been stopped by gunmen who shot continuously in the air to scare other road users and residents.

A resident of the area, Bayo Akinsola, told our correspondent who visited the area that the gunmen whisked the couple away leaving their five-year-old child in the vehicle. He added that the incident happened around 9.30 pm.

He stated that after the incident, the police arrived at the scene and began combing the wood and swamp if they could find the couple.

“It was around 9.30 pm when we heard continuous gunshots around this area. When the area became silent, we went to investigate what had happened. We only discovered a child in the vehicle while the parents had been taken away. When we tried to ask the child about its parents, it pointed a hand to the bush, saying some people took them away,” Akinsola said.

According to Akinsola, the gunmen escaped to the swamp with the couple.

Another resident, identified simply as Henry, said he was not sure if the kidnappers made away with the couple through the swamp.

He added that they (the kidnappers) might have come with a vehicle parked at the other end of the road, where they quickly moved the couple in and drove off immediately.

He added that if they had been in the woods, the police, probably, would have captured them, noting it was not long after the incident when the police arrived at the scene.

It was later gathered that a Celestial Church of Christ member, who has a bathing pool by the side of the water and some residents of Igbe, were arrested by the police.

Our correspondent could not extract comments from the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Commander, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, as calls made to his telephone were unanswered; he did not also respond to text messages sent to the telephone.