No fewer than 15 masked armed men dressed in the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, and thugs posing as policemen, have invaded a popular hotel in Ago Palace Way, Lagos, and subjected both their customers and visitors to hours of gruelling torture and robbery.

They also forcefully removed a giant power-generating set inside the hotel to an unknown location.

Armed with sophisticated weapons, they stormed Seafortunes Hotels Limited around 4 am last weekend, shut sporadically before breaking into the hotel rooms to dispossess lodgers of their valuables.

It was gathered that they were frantically asking for the owner of the hotel. They reportedly held everybody present hostage for hours before breaking into the generating set room and carrying it away with a heavy-duty crane.

Giving insight into the horrifying experience, the Chief Executive Officer of the hotel, Nwukwa Fortune, said ?Last Sunday morning, around 4 am, I got a call from one of my customers that some armed men in masks invaded my hotel. They rounded up our staff and security men. They went to the generating set and started dismantling it. They first asked after me, and after they were told that I was not around, they went to the generating set and started dismantling it. They also rounded up everybody including my customers. A neighbour whose car was blocking the access to the generating set was chased to his apartment and manhandled.

?They brought a heavy-duty truck and carted away the generating set. From accounts given by my workers, the men that invaded the hotel were about 30. 15 of them were wearing NSCDC uniforms and masks while others were touts who initially claimed to be policemen to gain access into the hotel. ?I was able to identify them as men of the NSCDC after watching the hotel?s CCTV which recorded everything that took place in the hotel.

?From the investigations so far, we were able to capture one man called Nicholas who once had an issue with the previous manager of this place. The issue has two segments. The first segment was a business transaction involving one Mr. Ogbonna, whom this business establishment was leased to. He was remitting a certain sum every month. So, when the said Mr. Ogbonna defaulted last year, he was disengaged. The fallout of his disengagement is what we are experiencing now.

?After he was disengaged, creditors started coming to ask for him. One of them is Mr. Nicholas who sells diesel.?

He sold a certain quantity of diesel to Mr.. Ogbonna worth about N3million. Mr. Ogbonna did not pay him before he was disengaged. After his disengagement, Nicholas came and said the hotel owes him. We told him that the management had changed, that he should go to Mr. Ogbonna to recover whatever he owes him.

?We showed him the agreement paper between me and the said Ogbonna, showing that Mr. Ogbonna was solely responsible for whatever happened during the period. He was not comfortable with that. He petitioned this hotel to Area E Police Station. I was invited to Area E. I reported, made statement and explained that I have no hand in the said transaction.

?At the end of the day, operatives at Area E made me sign an undertaking to look for Mr. Ogbonna. I mobilized the police to track Mr. Ogbonna. He was arrested and produced before the police. Mr. Nicholas, was asked to come as the person he was actually looking for was in Area E. But he did not come.

?At the end of the investigation, the police, in their wisdom, charged Mr. Ogbonna to court for the unpaid diesel supplied to Mr. Nicholas among other crimes. He was arraigned in court at Apapa. After his arraignment, the prosecutor in charge, invited Mr. Nicholas to court as a principal party and complainant in the matter, he refused to show up.

?After six months, this invasion has all the tenets of a war, an armed invasion, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

?They used their machine to lift the generating set with its contents into their truck and drove off. While they were shooting sporadically, many customers disappeared without paying their bills. Some lost their phones, some were injured. It was a typical armed attack. Before the men of Ago Police Station could come, the attackers had fled. The operatives from Ago Police Station later came. Fortunately, the CCTV camera identified Mr. Nicholas and his associates. He was arrested and he disclosed where he kept the generating set. He also disclosed the identities of the men of the NSCDC.?

When contacted on the phone, the Public Relations Officer of NSCDC in Lagos, Seun Abolurin, told our reporter that, ?If such a thing happened last Sunday, up till now we don?t have a report of such in our state headquarters, When people wear uniforms of organizations, it does not mean they are from that particular organization. You should know that people impersonate agencies very well. They should have reported the case to NSCDC in Lagos. It will save him the stress of identification. If they reported the matter to the police, they should write us.?

When contacted, Lagos State police spokesman, David Hundeyin said he would get in touch with the station and find out what happened.

However, a source at Ago Palace Police Station in charge of the area where the incident took place who insisted on anonymity told our reporter that the incident was reported in their station but they are yet to ascertain whether the people who perpetrated the act are real men from NSCDC. (Vanguard)

Update news