Man hypnotised, duped of N35,000

[Richard Akindele]

WHEN Kunle Daini stepped out of his house in the morning of May 1st, 2006, what was paramount on his mind was how to accomplish the tasks on his long to-do list. The least of the problems on his mind was probably the threat of a kidnapper or an hypnotiser. It was in this frenzy that he boarded a kabu kabu car at the popular Mobil bus stop along Ring Road, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, as a lone passenger in the cab. Unknown to him, he had just walked into the trap of fraudsters.


Immediately the cab picked him, it sped off and did not stop to pick another passenger until it reached Lister bus stop where a man flagged the taxi down and promptly entered. According to Kunle, “The man, on entering, said he had just arrived from Ogbomoso and that he did not know anywhere in Ibadan and that he was going to Labiran Ita Baale area of the city. “The driver declined taking him to his destination and started driving away.


“He was only a few yards away when he stopped and reversed. He asked me if it was all right to take the man to where he said he was going. I told him it was alright as long as they agreed on a price and that since I would be dropping at the next bus stop, Iyana Adeoyo, his decision would actually not affect me adversely,� Kunle said. Kunle told Sunday Tribune that he might have lost comprehension of what was happening around him at that particular time and that he regained partial use of his senses only when he was asked to alight from the cab in an area he could not identify.


“When I came down from the car, I could not identify the neighbourhood I was in. My abductor told me to follow him and I was actually following him meekly. It was as if I no longer had any sense of my own again. “He took me into a ramshackle building and my immediate impression was that the house was that of an herbalist. “We met an elderly man inside who greeted us and my abductor spoke with him for a short while before the old man turned to me.


“When the old man eventually turned to me, he asked me how much money I had on me. He asked if I have more at home, in the bank and if I could borrow from friends and others. “I told them how much I had on me and how much I have at home and in the bank. I could not resist answering them. I told them how I could raise more money by borrowing from friends. “They collected all the money I had on me, which was up to N4,000 and they gave me N50 to take taxi back home.


“They collected my phone number and the taxi driver dropped me at Labiran junction and the elderly man continue to call me on the phone, persistently urging me to go and borrow more money. “I was actually being driven by an unseen force, looking for money to borrow. “I withdrew the N13,000 in my account and borrowed another N7,000 from a friend and another N2,000 from another friend promising to tell them the need for the borrowings when they asked.


“All the while, I was being monitored by phone, around 4.30 p.m they directed me to meet them at Labiran junction. “I was met by the taxi driver who took me back to the house where the money I had gathered was collected from me. “After collecting the money the driver escorted me back to the Labiran junction again and told me that they will be expecting me to go and gather more money and to meet them again the following morning. Kunle explained that when he got home he was still restless, unable to eat and could not confide in those who had noticed his agitation.


“They still called me in the evening, around 7:30 p.m and I told them that I had not forgotten our meeting for the following day. They told me to meet them at Tantalizer at Mokola that same day. Few minutes later another call came telling me not to come again, ostensibly having known I still could not raise more money. Kunle explained that by the following mornin, he was back to his senses and realised that he had fallen victim to dupes. “By the following morning, I was already back to my senses. I recalled what had happened the previous day and it suddenly dawned on me that I had been duped under a spell.


“I confided in a person who advised that I inform the police. “As we were discussing what to do, they called again and I lied that I already have another N20,000. They told me to bring it immediately. They kept calling and I keep stalling, making arrangement for the police who will help round them. “Unfortunately, by the time I and the plain cloth policemen and men of OPC got to the arranged spot, the conmen did not show up and we have not been able to trace them ever since.

Tribune