A retired senior military officer, Air Vice Marshal Sikiru Smith, has been reportedly abducted by masked gunmen in the Ajah area of Lagos State.
Smith, a cousin of former Inspector-General of Police and current Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Musiliu Smith. was said to have been kidnapped on Monday.
The retired officer, who is the Chairman of Double Wealth Ventures Limited, a dredging and engineering firm, was supervising work on a dredging site when the heavily armed gunmen invaded the place and shot into the air sporadically.
According to an SOS voice note shared by his official driver, Corporal Odiji, the retired AVM had engaged in a struggle with the gunmen before he was subdued and whisked away in a waiting speedboat.
“This is an emergency. I am Corporal Odiji attached to Air Vice Marshal Smith. They just abducted him from the site where we were working.
“Some gunmen who were wearing masks just came and snatched my boss now. They shot everywhere. I was near where I was fixing my boss’ vehicle.
“As I was coming, I saw them leaving in a boat but I wasn’t armed so I just ran to the site and I saw his glasses and where he struggled with them. Please pass this information. It is an emergency,” Odiji wrote.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Office (PPRO) Adekunle Ajisebutu, who neither confirmed nor denied the incident, promised to make inquiries and make a detailed statement in due course.
Air Force spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, also promised to make inquiries and provide information on the matter later
