Police Rescue 27 Foreigners Held Hostage In Lagos

LAGOS—The Lagos State Police Command has rescued 27 foreign nationals who were lured into Nigeria under false promises of employment.

The victims, comprising 18 men and nine women from Ghana and Benin Republic, were found held captive in the Isheri Oshun area of Lagos.

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a briefing yesterday on security activities in the state, said: “A distress call from one of the victims led officers from the Conflict Response Unit to the location, where they freed the individuals. Preliminary investigations suggest the victims were to be transported elsewhere, raising concerns about potential international trafficking. The police have launched an extensive probe to identify the traffickers and their network.”

Additionally, the Command rescued six kidnap victims and arrested multiple suspects, including two Pakistani nationals and two other Nigerians, in a series of anti-kidnapping operations across the state.

“In one of the cases, two Pakistani nationals, Umarangol, 19, and Aftab Hamad, 28, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping a fellow Pakistani whom they had lured to Lagos under the guise of offering him employment as a chef. The victim was held hostage in a hotel on Awolowo Road, Ikeja, where the kidnappers demanded a N50 million ransom for his release.

“A swift intervention by the police led to the victim’s rescue, and two of the seven suspected kidnappers were apprehended. The case has since been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), and the Pakistani embassy has been notified of the development.”

“In another incident, three individuals who had gone to inspect land near the new airport area in Lekki were kidnapped by five armed men. The abduction took place on March 7, 2025, around 5:50 p.m. However, intense pressure from police operatives forced the kidnappers to abandon their victims and flee.

“The victims were successfully rescued within 24 hours and have since been reunited with their families. The police have launched a manhunt to track down and arrest the fleeing suspects.”

In a separate case, a female delivery agent fell victim to a kidnapping and extortion scheme on March 9, 2025. According to the police report, the victim was lured to an address under the pretense of delivering a product, only to be forcefully dragged inside by a man and a woman, later identified as Emmanuel and Mazioma Okafor.

“The suspects allegedly stripped the woman naked and took explicit photographs of her before demanding ¦ 2 million to stop the photographs from being leaked.