>
Kidnappers have released Air Vice Marshal Sikiru Smith (retd.).
Smith, who was abducted on Monday in Ajah area of Lagos State was released in the early hours of Saturday.
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed Smith’s release to The Punch.
“I can confirm that he has been released,” he said.
He said the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, personally handed over Smith to his family, adding that persistent operational activities along the border corridors of the state and the recent onslaught on kidnappers in the forest led to the release of the retired Air Vice Marshal.
Smith, who is the cousin of former Inspector-Generalnof Police, Musiliu Smith and also Chairman of Double Wealth Ventures Limited, a dredging and engineering firm, was supervising work on a site in the Ajah area of Lagos State on Monday when masked gunmen invaded the place and shot into the air to scare away people.
The gunmen were said to have whisked him away in a waiting speedboat, after which they sped off.
According to an SOS voice note shared by his driver, Corporal Odiji, the retired Air Vice Marshal engaged in a struggle with the gunmen before he was subdued.