Adewunmi Kofoworola Babajide’s father, Pa Muftau Lawal, a member of the Osun State House of Assembly who represents Ede North State Constituency, has recounted how his captors nearly used him in a ceremony.
Pa Lawal, who was kidnapped in front of his home in Ede more than a month ago, described what it was like to be held captive.
In an interview on Saturday in Ede, the 80-year-old man, whose son is also the minority leader in the Osun Assembly, said he was taken off guard when some people rode up to his house on motorcycles and began threatening to kill him.
According to him, “I was in front of my house in the evening when I saw these people in their numbers. They alighted from motorcycles and some children who were playing beside where I sat, ran away. Some of them said they should burn me alive while some said they should gun me down and I was already scared when one of them said they should pour petrol on me and set me alight.
“Not long after they left, another set of people came and immediately they alighted from the motorcycle, ordered me to climb the motorcycle. I asked them where are you taking me to? One of them responded, ‘we are taking to you to meet your son, Akogun’. Because of my age, my sight is already blurry, I couldn’t see clearly as we were going. But after a while, I noticed we were on Ilesha route, because that’s my route when I was young.
“I asked again, where are you taking me to and the one behind me said ‘if you ask any question again, we will kill you here’. I stopped asking them questions. We were going on a high speed. Then, it was already dark, so I can’t see anything again.
“Later, we got to a place, there is a house there and I was asked to go inside. I met an old man with a boy, the man is a herbalist and he welcomed me. Those who carried me to the place left. I saw the herbalist as he consulted his oracle; after many incantations, the herbalist asked me if we have any deity in our family and I told him no, that we don’t have any deity but my wife family has one they do worship which is “Sango”– God of lightening. The herbalist now said, ‘I can see’ as he shook his head. Later, I noticed that he was calling those who brought me to him to come and carry me that I can’t be used.
“Those who brought me didn’t answer and I was there for weeks before they came back six days ago around 3am to carry me. As we were going in the middle of the night, I noticed that a car was coming behind us and not quite long, the motorcycle that they used to carry me stopped and I was asked to enter the car. It was the car that carried me to Lokoja in the morning.
“The car, which carried me, after getting to Lokoja, asked about any Police station to present myself to them and explain how I got there, which I did. It was there in the station they contacted some people in Osun to get my son’s phone number. They called him to inform him that I came to explain how I got to Lokoja. It was my son who arranged how I got back to Osun.”
When asked if the police in Osun State took care of him, Lawal replied that he met with the commissioner of police, Olawale Olokode, who questioned him and then ordered one of his men to collect his statement before ordering him to be transferred to Ede.
The elderly man bemoaned the destruction of everything around him and pointed out that the only thing remaining was the garment he was wearing.
He stated that the sandal he wore to Osun was a gift from a police officer in Lokoja.
He also pleaded with the Nigeria Police to find out who was behind the turmoil in Ede and prosecute those responsible for his kidnapping.
Remember that during an Ede ward meeting in August, tensions erupted when Kofoworola Babajide, the minority leader of the Osun Assembly, was accused of encouraging police to kill and persecute PDP members.
Two people were reportedly shot by a police officer during the ensuing brawl.
The Osun Minority Leader, who denied being responsible for the killings, also claimed that his father’s home had been destroyed and that he was gone throughout the chaos.
