Lebanese man arrested for kidnapping in Lagos

A 23 year old Lebanese man has been arrested by police in Lagos for kidnapping his 61 year old aunt, Alhaja Essa Dannawi. Mohammed Dannawi (pictured above) conspired with a former employee of his aunt, Obi Kwentua, (pictured above) to kidnap the woman on May 2nd at her home in Ebute Meta, Lagos.

Mohammed, who later confessed to the crime, told police during interrogation that he didn't kidnap his aunt because of money but to punish her because she offended him and his wife. He said:

“My aunty did something very bad to my wife and I and so I decided to punish her. I met with Obi (Kwentua) and told him that I wanted my aunty kidnapped. I gave him the spare key to her house and he in turn hired some boys to do the work. On the day of the operation, I left the house and five guys stormed the place and took my aunty away. The plan was not to demand money from her, it was just punishment.”

Punish your own relation by kidnapping her? Wow! Continue reading...


After the kidnapping, the kidnappers demanded N100m ransom from the woman's family but later agreed to collect N4m. It was during negotiations with the kidnappers that Mohammed confessed to being behind the kidnap and with his co-operation the police were able to arrest one of the suspects, Obi Kwentua when he came to collect the N4million ransom from relatives of the victim at Rita Lori Hotel in Surulere.

Essa Dannawi was later released while Mohammed and Kwentua were arrested.