Gildas Tohouo, managing director of Maersk Line, a major shipping company in the country, was attacked at his residence in the Ikoyi area of Lagos on Sunday in which his wife was killed.
Maersk is the world’s biggest shipping company has issued a statement on the incident.
“We are sorry to confirm that a colleague and his family have been attacked in their residence in Lagos, Nigeria during the evening of 8th December 2019,” wrote David Williams, the regional managing director of Africa for A. P. Moller-Maersk.
“Tragically, the wife of our colleague passed away at the scene. Our colleague is in hospital, where his condition is critical but stable.
“His three children are all safe and accounted for.
A police source has revealed that the attackers of the couple gained access into their residence through an electrician who worked for them. The electrician is in police custody.
Both Tohouo and his wife are foreigners living in Nigeria. While the man is from Cameroon, the late wife, Bernadett Kurucz, was from Bulgaria.
The source said during the operation, the husband and wife were locked in different rooms. The late woman was said to have been forced to transfer some money to her attackers after which she was forced to drink acid and suffocated with pillow.
Those who carried out the attack reportedly gained access to the house through an electrician who is currently in police custody.
Tohouo was said to have placed a call through to the chief security officer of the company who led policemen to the scene before the suspects escaped.
The electrician and his friend who attacked the couple were immediately arrested, according to the source.
Bala Elkana, police public relations officer in Lagos, confirmed the incident to journalists, but said he did not want to comment on the identity of the victims.
“We have an incident on someone who was attacked with his wife. Both of them were stabbed. The wife died and he is still alive and responding to treatment. Those who carried it out are in our custody. One of them is an electrician in the estate, who was assisted by his friend. Their aim was to steal from the man. They were there to rob,” Elkana told news media.
