Bandits demands $1.5 million ransom after abducting Fouani Group MD Mohamed Fouani, two others in Lagos

Sources familiar with the situation have reported that armed assailants have abducted Mohamed Fouani, the CEO of electronic distributor Fouani Group, and at least two other individuals during a fatal ambush in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday.

Police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin informed the our correspondents that he had not yet received a briefing on the incident that occurred on Saturday afternoon.

However, he insisted that an investigation had already been initiated to resolve the situation. It transpired in close proximity to the Falomo Bridge, according to numerous sources of information.

Fouani Group, run by Mohamed Fouani and other prominent Lebanese businesspeople, is the major distributor of LG and Hisense products in Nigeria. The company itself has yet to issue a statement on the incident.

Sources said the abductors had contacted people near the victims for a ransom of $1.5 million. The Gazette was unable to independently authenticate this demand or whether or not it came from the abductors.

A Lagos police source said the incident would likely unnerve the command, which had hitherto boasted of its capacity to keep kidnap-for-ransom activities low across the state even as they spread in other parts of the country.

Most expatriates and diplomats in Nigeria are based in Lagos, especially in the highbrow Ikoyi neighbourhood, where security had long been assumed to be above frequent breaches by motivated assailants.