•Details of how conductor sprayed perfume in the bus and passengers dozed off 

A 50-year-old man, Gbenga Maxwell Ajayi, who was abducted on his way to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State, on a day he was billed to travel to London has regained his freedom.

The father of four was abducted last Friday inside a commercial vehicle from Ijaye area of Lagos to Oshodi where he planned to take another vehicle to Murtala Muhammed airport and catch his 1.40 pm flight to London.  While inside the yellow color bus, he noticed that the driver was spraying perfume. He felt the spray was to reduce odour and he hastily alerted his travelling agent and waited for result. Unfortunately, that was the last time both his agent, members of his family and friends heard from him. 

While efforts were being made to trace his whereabout, calls were made to a contact waiting for his arrival in far away London airport but he said his passenger was yet to arrive.

As shock waves gripped his relations, his frenetic wife quickly rushed to Ijaiye police station to lodge a report on Saturday night and after making statement, the police advised her to go and come back on Monday.

Meanwhile, members of his family spread their dragnet and were frantically making calls to everybody they know while at the same time combing the nooks and crannies of Oshodi and environs with a view to either locating his dead body or getting clues as to his whereabout.

Shockingly, the family succeeded in receiving good news on Sunday afternoon after one of their relations living in Ajah, Lagos called to announce that he had resurfaced after escaping from his abductors that wanted to use him for ritual purposes at Epe, a suburb of Lagos.

The victim narrated his heartrending experience and how he regiand freedom to Vanguard.

According to him, I regained freedom after my abductors noticed that I could not be useful for ritual purpose.

Narrating his ordeal to Vanguard at his Ijaiye residence, Lagos, Gbenga said he boarded a commercial vehicle whose occupants dozed off having inhaled perfume sprayed by the driver in the bus.  The victim who was seen with bruises on his leg during Vanguard’s visit to his residence said, “I can’t give details of what transpired while in the bus but what I noticed was that the driver was spraying perfume immediately the last person entered the bus and closed the door  which resulted in us dozing off.

“I initially sent a message to my travel agent that I wanted to order for a Bolt taxi but later, I discharged the rider when he delayed in coming as a result of traffic gridlock.

 I, thereafter, joined a public transport heading for Oshodi.   Unfortunately, we all dozed off after inhaling the perfume. 

“When I woke up, I saw myself and other passengers in an apartment but we all looked dizzy with white stain on our bodies.  I heard an old man giving order for my release saying that I cannot be used for ritual purposes.  Immediately, the charms placed on my head were removed, my eyes tied and was driven to an area, very close to a construction site which was later identified as Epe by a woman.  I saw a woman who told me that I am at Epe. I explained my ordeal to the woman; she urinated on my head and immediately I regained consciousness. She sympathized with me, and gave me N500 and left. I then asked for direction from some headsmen who directed me on how to locate my way to Ajah. I joined lorry vehicle and they dropped me at Awoyaya and I gave them N500 and trekked down to Ajah where I located my brother’s house in Ajah and narrated my story to him.”

The victim’s brother Seyi Ajayi said Gbenga told them that all the passengers were already clothed in black clothes. Then a man placed a calabash on their heads one after the other saying that if the charm worked on that person, he or she would be taken away. According to him, my brother was in a very bad shape physically while narrating his ordeal to me and after that, I quickly made calls to all our people announcing the good news. “For now, we have placed him on intensive treatment and we hope he will regain himself fully soon.”

Meanwhile, another teenager identified as Emmanuel Timilehin has been rescued by the police after he was abandoned by his abductors at Jakande in Ikotun area of Lagos state.  Though the circumstances surrounding his abduction is not clear, Lagos state police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin said in his verified tweeter handle that he is under treatment and is still incoherent. “From the little he could mutter, he was abducted in Jakande, Ikotun area on Sunday, November 13, 2022. He has been giving different names and addresses of his parents and any information that will assist in locating his parents would be appreciated,” he stated.