Security Guard's Wife Mistaken For Millionaire's Wife, Kidnapped In Lagos

Security Guard's Wife Mistaken For Millionaire's
Wife, Kidnapped In Lagos

Zara Mohammed, 27, a full-time house wife and a
nursing mother , left her home at Dolphin Estate,
dressed gracefully to attend her friend’s baby
naming ceremony at Ijeh barracks.
What she didn't know that day was 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.
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 said, “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.