Bandits ambushed and kidnapped a prominent Lebanese businessman and others in Lagos, demanding a $1.5 million ransom in a brazen attack that has rattled security assumptions.
A brazen daylight kidnapping in the heart of Lagos has sent shockwaves through Nigeria's business community. Armed assailants ambushed and seized Mohamed Fouani, the managing director of prominent electronics distributor Fouani Group, along with at least two others near the upscale Ikoyi neighborhood on Friday.
According to sources familiar with the development, the abductors have demanded a staggering $1.5 million ransom for the release of their high-profile hostages. The Fouani Group, a major distributor of LG and Hisense products run by Lebanese businesspeople, has yet to state the incident.
The attack has rattled assumptions about security in Lagos, Nigeria's economic nerve center. "For this to happen in the cosmopolitan commercial core of Ikoyi is outrageous and unacceptable," said security analyst Freedom Onuoha. "It will heighten concerns over the state's ability to protect businesses and investments."
As news spread, many Nigerians voiced anger and disbelief on social media that such a high-profile abduction could occur in ostensibly one of the safer enclaves of Lagos where expatriates and diplomats reside. "So we have bandits in Lagos now? This is very bad," one person tweeted.
The kidnapping demonstrates the brazenness of criminal gangs and their struggle to be contained by authorities. "These guys are closer than you think...yet the security agencies claim not to be able to trace these guys," a Twitter user remarked.
While kidnapping for ransom has long plagued other regions, it has been relatively controlled in Lagos recently. However, Friday's attack will likely unnerve the police command which had touted its capacity to keep such incidents low across the state.
