Mistaken identity: kidnappers abduct security man’s wife, demand N10m

When Zara Mohammed,27, a full-time house wife and a nursing mother, left her home at Dolphin Estate, dressed georgeously to attend her friend’s baby naming ceremony at Ijeh barracks, little did she know that she would be mistaken for a millionaire’s wife and kidnapped on her way back home by a woman who offered her a ride at the entrance to her Estate.

Crime Guard gathered that the victim, who relocated to Lagos after she got married to her husband in Maiduguri in 2010, had two children including a six-month-old baby before she was kidnapped.

Narrating his wife’s ordeal after her release, Mr. Mohammed, told Crime Guard that on April 25, 2015, at about 2pm, she left their house located at Corporation drive, 189b, Dolphin Estate, to attend a friend’s child naming ceremony at Ijeh barracks. According to him, that was the last time he heard from her. “After waiting till 10pm, and she didn’t return, I called her line but it was switched off. I went to the venue of the naming ceremony.

“Unfortunately, it was dark and I could not locate the place. The next morning, I went back and was able to locate the house of the celebrant. Surprisingly, my wife’s friend, the host of the ceremony, told me that she attended the ceremony but left almost immediately after giving her baby a gift. She, however, took me to some other friends’ houses to see if my wife had passed the night there but, it was an exercise in futility as none of them had any clue about her whereabouts. At last, I went to Dolphin Estate Divisional Police station to report that my wife was missing.

“The following day, I received a call from a number that claimed they had kidnapped her and requested that I should bring N10 million ransom to Allen bus stop at Ikeja, Lagos. I told them that I wanted to speak with my wife to be sure that they actually kidnapped her. It was then I asked her how she got kidnapped.   She said it was when she was returning from the naming ceremony that she was kidnapped . While she was still talking with me, the line went off. I tried severally to call back but it was switched off.

“When I realised that it was a kidnap case, I notified the police who transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti,Yaba, Lagos, for further investigation.   On April 27, 2015, the kidnappers called me with my wife’s number and I told them I won’t be able to raise that amount because I am a security man in Dolphin Estate with a monthly salary of N20,000. Immediately, the phone went dead.

“Few days later, I was shocked to see her in our house in Lagos. It was then that she narrated what actually happened to me.” This is her story. ” I was on my way back to the house and when I got to the entrance of the estate, a woman driving a red Gulf car stopped and asked if I was going into the estate and I said yes. She then offered to give me and two other men who were also at the entrance, a ride. I accepted the gesture and boarded the vehicle because the driver was a fellow woman and I didn’t suspect any danger because she looked so innocent and harmless little knowing that the two men were her partners in crime.

“As soon as we boarded the car, one of the men used a white handkerchief to cover my face and then I became unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a room with my hands and legs tied. Inside the room I met a woman who alleged she was abducted with her daughter. She complained that since they kidnapped them, she hasn’t seen her daughter. Two days later, they took her away and I was left alone in the room.

“The next day, they called my husband and requested for N10 million ransom.   After they finished talking with my husband, they gave me the phone to speak with him. I was still explaining to him in our dialect what happened when they took the phone from me and switched it off. The next day, they called him with my phone but they didn’t allow me to speak with him. While there, I was given a plate of rice to eat and pure water to drink.

“A week later, I was dumped in a farm after they realised that my husband, a mere security man, could not pay the amount they demanded. I couldn’t move because of my tied legs. All I could do was to cry and shout to alert anyone nearby. I was in the bush crying when a Good Samaritan heard my voice and came to my rescue. He asked me what happened and why my hands and legs were tied. I told him that some people kidnapped me on my way to Dolphin Estate and he asked, Dolphin Estate in Lagos? I said yes. It was then he told me that I was in Lokoja, Kogi State and not Lagos. That was when I realised how far away I was from Lagos.

“He untied me and then took me to the nearest motor park where I would board a vehicle to Lagos.   He paid N2000 to the driver as my transportation fare and explained to the driver and other park officials what had happened to me.”

The traumatized husband told Crime Guard, “I thank God for rescuing my wife from the hands of kidnappers. But, the problem right now is that since her release, she behaves abnormally. I don’t know what her abductors did to her. She acts funny and very different from herself. I have concluded plans to take her to my home town in Borno State for proper medical treatment,”he stated.