How armed men attacked Maerskline Shipping MD, killed wife in Lagos

By Chioma Joseph 

Armed men, suspected to be armed robbers,  have stabbed the wife of the Managing Director of Maerskline Shipping Services to death at their Cul De Sac Residence, on Luggard Drive, Ikoyi . 

The deceased and her husband, Gildas Tohouo, are foreigners who have lived in Nigeria for years, running one of the largest shipping company in the world. 

It was gathered that the armed men, led by the estate electrician, stormed the residence at 9 p.m. on Sunday. 

Reports have it that the electrician had smuggled his accomplice into the estate, claiming he was a guest at a party hosted by Tohouo’s neighbour, an expatriate.

The electrician was said to have tempered with the power supply at Tohouo’s house and had immediately approached them, claiming he was there to fix the electrical fault.  

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Unknown to the couple that the electrician was not alone, he had also allowed his accomplice in through a back door, and attacked the couple.

The suspects forced the couple to transfer a huge sum of money to their account, took their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, and subsequently forced them into drinking a liquid substance, perceived to be acid.  

While their children were left unhurt, the suspected robbers, armed with knives also stabbed the deceased and her husband. 

The deceased, a Bulgarian, had bleed to death while her husband had managed to call the company’s Chief Security Officer(CSO), who alerted the Lagos Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu.

Responding swiftly to the distress call, Odumosu led a team of policemen to the crime scene, where two suspects, who were still trying to cart away jelweries and other valuables were arrested, and Tohouo rushed to the hospital.

While there are speculations that the suspects may have been hired assassins, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Elkana Bala said it was a case of armed robbery. 

He said: “ It was a case of armed robbery, organised by the estate electrician who is well known to them. He invited his friend to join him in the robbery and they came with two knives. They stabbed the man and his wife, the man is in the hospital, while his wife died. The suspect took their ATM and a purse with cash. The two suspects,  Olamide Goke and Ade Akanbi, were  arrested and the knives, purse with cash and ATM were recovered from them.” 

The shipping company confirming the attack on Gildas Tohouo said the MD is ‘’critical but stable.’’

The statement by David Williams, Regional Managing Director of Africa for A.P. Moller – Maersk, said: “We are very sorry to confirm that a colleague and his family have been attacked in their residence in Lagos, Nigeria during the evening of 8 December 2019,’’ Maersk said in the statement issued by its spokesperson, Richard Smith.

‘’Tragically, the wife of our colleague passed away at the scene. Our colleague is in the hospital, where his condition is critical, but stable. The three children are all safe and accounted for.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathy goes to the family. We will do whatever we can to support them in this tragedy,”