An Abuja-based lawyer, Opeyemi Adewale, has narrated her ordeal in the hands of suspected kidnappers who abducted her in the Federal Capital Territory on September 26, 2023.
She told Punch that the incident happened when she boarded a 14-seater bus on the evening of September 26 at a park in Lugbe not knowing that it was a “one-chance” bus.
The lawyer said she realised that she was in trouble when, six minutes into the trip, the man who sat beside her started attacking her.
She said it was at that point that she realised that out of all the occupants of the bus, only she and two other women were real passengers while others were members of the gang.
She explained, “They started beating me and the other two ladies in the vehicle. When they were done, they asked what I do for a living, I lied that I was a teacher that just resigned. They asked how much I earned, I said it was less than N30,000. Then they asked about my husband, I said he too is a poor trader.
They checked my bag, saw my ATM card, and requested my PIN. They emptied my account, collected all the cash on me and asked me to call my family that they were taking us to Kaduna and that one Alhaji was going to use us for a ritual but if we could call someone to pay a ransom of N1m they would release us.”
She said as she was making attempts to speak with her family members to raise funds for her release, her abductors kept driving around the city.
She said at around midnight, her husband and colleagues were able to raise N1m that was sent to the robbers before she was released.
Adewale added that the money that was sent for her release was paid into her account while the robbers withdrew the money from a POS operator.