Money ritualists are on the prowl in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.  Kidnapping incidents are on the rise daily and it is of great concern to  the residents.
 Every person is suspicious of the next person close to him or her walking the streets. 
 
 
So it was with a 42-year-old mother of four, Olorunyomi (not real name).  She set the whole of Academy area of Odo-Ona Elewe, Orita Challenge,  Ibadan, that Friday, August 19, 2016, into wild jubilation. 
Reason: She came back home at 11:00pm from a near death experience with  money ritualists. She was kidnapped on Tuesday, August 16, after  transacting business in one of the banks at Challenge, Ibadan, that  fateful afternoon. 
Olorunyomi, an events planner, was still shell shocked when she narrated  her ordeal to Daily Sun. She found it difficult to comprehend why  fellow human being could be so wicked as to kill a fellow human being  for whatever purpose. 
She met a middle-aged woman at the banking hall who became very jovial  with her as she asked about the welfare of her children: “I felt  comfortable with her the way she was relating with me and we became  friends. Afterwards, I got out of the bank and was heading for another  bank at Orita Challenge. 
“The woman beckoned on to me from a beautiful Honda Element car,  introduced a girl of about 13 years old who wore a school uniform of a  popular girls’ school at Molete, Ibadan, as her daughter and the man  behind the wheels as her husband. She asked me to join them since they  were going towards Orita Challenge. 
“As we approached the bank, I asked the driver to stop so that I can  alight but he did not. The woman looked back at me with disdain and  said, ‘you don’t know what has happened to you.’ I struggled to open the  door but it was locked. I thought by the time we get to the police  check point at New Garage, I would be able to scream for help. But  before we got there, I was already weak and could not utter a word. It  was then I realized that everyone in the car could not talk including  the driver. 
“I became a bit conscious later and when I opened my eyes all I saw was  ‘Welcome to Sagamu’ in one of the bill boards as the car swerved off the  highway into a thick bush. We arrived at a big gate of a very beautiful  mansion situated in the bush. 
“We were ordered to alight from the car. The man behind the wheels  suddenly became conscious and was trying to ask where he was. One of our  captors struck him with an object, something like a black belt, he fell  and died instantly. 
As he was being dragged to the place where his body parts would be  dismembered, the woman that lured me into the car rushed at him and  disposed him off his valuables like wristwatch, gold chain, wallet and  his two phones.
“The woman looked at me disdainfully again and said, ‘madam no matter  what you are thinking, we can never meet on this planet earth again.’ I  wondered how she could read or hear my thoughts easily.
“We were ushered into a large room with CCTV monitoring the Shagamu  Expressway. We could see activities going on from the expressway to the  point where we veered off the road. 
“The man who received us was very happy and congratulated the woman for  briging such a ‘large stock’ despite the fact that it was not really a  ‘rush hour.’ Some of us were picked to be transported to another  destination where ‘supplies’ were urgently needed. I was among them. I  noticed that it was 7:05pm from the clock inside the car that was to  take us to our new destination.
“On arrival, we were ushered in to another compound not as big as the  first house and the ring leader was impressed. He locked me in another  room where I met two other victims, a woman and one Hausa man. I was  asked what was my name but something inside me said I should not utter a  word. 
I kept reciting in my mind a verse from the holy Quran
“The ring leader said, ‘look Alhaja, stopped reciting Al Quran here, or  you think I don’t hear you? Let me tell you, anyone who enters our den  has been forgotten by God.’ It then dawned on me that only God could  save me.
“He treated me nicely and told me that all he needed from me was to  utter my name with my mouth. I kept mute and he left but assured me that  the next time he would come I would be the one telling him my name.
He did come back after I refused to eat the plate of Amala that was  given to me. The woman I met in the room also refused to eat. The Hausa  man did not only eat, but drank the water given to him and washed his  face with it. 
“The man appealed to me that I should eat. He then told me my name  including my mother’s name to prove to me that nothing was hidden to  him. All he was requesting was that I should utter it by myself, which I  refused. He was also very furious at the Hausa man whom he said had  given him five different names.
“We were there all through Thursday till the wee hours of Friday.  Suddenly, the door of the room was opened by the gateman. He led three  strange old men, dressed in the traditional Yoruba hunting attire with  local touch lights strapped around the frontal lobe of the head into the  room. 
“The man who led the other two could not be less than 80 years and  beckoned unto me. I woke the other two with me. The Hausa man started  reciting his last prayers saying, ‘from Allah we came and to Him we  shall return’ in Arabic, thinking that the end had come. 
“It was as if something was lifted off from my body as I regained my  strength and I could feel a kind of peace and comfort all over me. The  old man locked the gateman inside the room and led us out of the  compound into a thick bush.
“According to the old man, he came to rescue us from ‘awon agbeni pa se  etutu ola.’ (Those who kill for money rituals.) He led us out of the  compound around at about 1a.m on Friday. He said the three of us were  safe. We trekked for about two hours before reaching a riverbank. 
“He made us to realise that he deliberately took us through that route.  If he had allowed us to go through the pathway that leads to the  highway, though shorter, but very risky, as we were bound to be  recaptured. He gave me three new N500 notes that could transport us to  town. He lamented that most of the fishermen that could help us across  the river had gone home.
“Luckily for us, a young boy of about 18 years old who is a fisherman  came back to the river bank to check his net. The old man begged him to  take us across the river with his canoe and then tried to identify  himself by asking me to look at his face carefully.
“Honestly, the man looked like one of my uncles with seven tribal marks  on his cheeks. He said to me, ‘I am still alive’ and went back. 
“At the home of that young boy, he brought three Okada riders  (motorcyclists) who charged us N500 each to take us to the nearby town  where we can board easily to our various destinations. The nearest place  is Ondo town. That was then I knew we must have been held hostage in  one of the villages in Ondo State or around Ijebu Waterside. 
“The okada riders refused to take us to a police station or a motor park  for fear of us being recaptured by the kidnappers. I flagged down  another car from the spot they dropped us. After narrating our ordeal to  the driver, he refused to take us in for fear of us dying in his car,  as he did not know if the kidnappers had poisoned us. He gave me N2,000  for us to find our way back to our destinations. But the Hausa man  joined a trailer filled with cows. 
“The other victim who escaped with me had been in their den for over two  weeks. She told me she was kidnapped on her way to Ilesa where she was  going to give her parents some gifts after receiving her salary at the  end of of July. She said her driver stopped to pick someone by the  roadside drenched in the rain. She said immediately the woman entered  the car all of them became unconscious till they found themselves in the  compound of the house they later brought me to. 
“The money given to me was enough to take me to a university at  Ikeji-Ile (Ayo Babalola). I met a lecturer of that school who offered to  take me to Ikire while the other victim dropped at Ilesa junction to  meet with her parents. I got to Iwo Road, Ibadan, around 10:00pm and  managed to call my husband who came to pick me up.
“I know my escape is divine. I really don’t know why God favoured me so  much to the extent that He showed me such a great mercy. I am sad that  human being could be this wicked. I am even very sad for the people  remaining in their den, especially the little girl in school uniform. My  prayer is that God would deliver them and guide all of us from falling  victim of ritual killers.”
The Divisiponal Police Officer (DPO), Orita Challenge, Ibadan, Mr. Olu  Moore, was not in the office when Daily Sun visited the station. But one  of his officers confirmed that the case was reported when Olorunyomi  was found: “Her husband promised to come back saying they wanted to go  and pray first. They have not come back since then for the police to  conduct proper investigation into the matter.”
He said he is not in the position to talk about the spate off kidnaped in the state only the State PPRO could do that. 
The sun 
 
 
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