The rescue of the kidnapped Fouani brothers has become a matter of conflicting accounts, raising questions about the true sequence of events.
On Tuesday, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, announced that a joint task force comprising the Marine Police and the Nigerian Navy rescued Mohamed Fouani, the Managing Director of Fouani Company, and two other Lebanese nationals. The trio, along with their boat captain and his assistant, were reportedly freed late Monday night in the Orugbo Iddo area of Lagos.
Hundeyin stated, “Last night in Orugbo Iddo, five of them, three Lebanese, the boat captain, and his assistant were rescued. Our Marine Police, with the support of the Nigerian Navy, brought them to shore. Thereafter, our tactical team in the area took them home on Banana Island in the early hours of today.”
The group had been abducted on Friday while sailing from Apapa to Victoria Island, near the Falomo Bridge. The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of $1.5 million.
However, fresh evidence from reliable sources suggests that the police may not have played a role in the rescue. According to reports from Peoples Gazette, top police sources revealed that the Fouani brothers were actually abandoned by their captors around 11:00 p.m. on Monday at Orugbo Waterside, a village near Epe. Community members found the hostages and took them to the Oloja of Epe’s palace, which subsequently alerted the police.
The community members, who discovered the kidnapped individuals in a boat on the creeks, reportedly found Amtar Fouani, 37, Abbas Mohamed Fouani, 40, Hassan Fouani, 29, Emmanuel Autai, 43, and Ridwan Badari, 31, and handed them over to the police early Tuesday morning.
The claim that the police and navy conducted a rescue operation is further contradicted by social media evidence. A user, @masudayeola, posted pictures of the released Fouani brothers around 11:00 p.m. on Monday, tagging Mr. Hundeyin and the police to alert them to the situation. The post read, “@BenHundeyin @PoliceNG Sir, three kidnapped expatriates and 2 indigenes were just dumped at Ebute-Oriba, Epe LG as of this evening. Please they are still there as of writing. This is a cry for rescue.” The pictures and videos shared showed no police officers present at the scene.
It remains unclear whether any ransom was paid for the release of the hostages. The Fouani brothers were reported to be unharmed and were eventually escorted to their apartment at Ocean Parade Towers, Banana Island, by police officers on Tuesday.
This discrepancy between the official police account and reports from local sources highlights the complexities and challenges in verifying rescue operations and the roles played by various parties involved.
