Police in Ogun State have rescued a 24-year-old Dubai returnee
from the custody of an Islamic cleric five months after he allegedly abducted
her from the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State.
The suspect, Olalekan Anifowoshe, aka Alfa, was said to have kept
the victim, Simbiat (pseudonym), in his rented apartment in the Atan-Ota area
of the state and allegedly had sex with her during the period.
A Good Samaritan, who saw her in May, informed her family and the
case was reported at the Onipanu Police Division, leading to Alfa’s arrest.
Simbiat and the 42-year-old suspect were neighbours in the Surulere area of
Lagos.
The suspect’s wife and three children also resided in Surulere.
The woman consulted him in 2013 for help over a spiritual attack before
travelling to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Simbiat, who spoke with Punch Metro, explained that after she
received a call from Alfa on January 11, 2016, instructing her to come back to
Nigeria, she lost her senses and returned to the country immediately.
The victim said that the Alfa had slept with her for at least 10
times, adding that anytime she demanded to see her parents, he would beat her
up and boast that she had reached her “final destination.”
She said: “Sometime in 2013, I had a dream that a man made love to
me. A friend introduced me to him and he gave me a piece of white cloth with
Arabic inscriptions to cover my body whenever I wanted to sleep, which I used.
Some months later, I travelled to Dubai.
“On January 11, he called me on the telephone to come home. It was
like a spell. I packed my things and arrived in Lagos the following day without
telling my parents. He picked me at the airport and took me to his apartment in
the Aboru area. After some time, he relocated me to Atan-Ota, where he was
eventually arrested. He beat me anyhow and slept with me.
“Sometime in May, he took me to a river for a ritual. While he
left me to do something inside the bush, I saw someone I knew. The person informed
my father that I was already in Nigeria, but in captivity. My father was
shocked because he thought I was in Dubai.”
Simbiat, who sold food in Dubai, alleged that Alfa also collected
her jewellery valued at N250, 000 and a cash sum of about N480, 000. The
suspect allegedly owned up to the allegations in his statement to the police,
promising to refund the money.
He said apart from prayers, he also used traditional means to help
solve his clients’ problems.
He said, “I am married with three children. The woman and I knew
each other in Surulere, where my family members reside. As an Islamic cleric, I
help people facing problems with prayers and it works. That was how I got to
know Simbiat''.
“It is true I cast a spell on her to come back to Nigeria. She was
living with me and I slept with her occasionally. I only borrowed the money
from her, I will refund it.”
A source close to the victim’s family, who did not want her name mentioned , said it was unfortunate that she had to go through such an “excruciating”
experience.
“I don’t know why this happened to someone like her. She is decent
and religious. I have never seen her with a boyfriend. I think the mistake she
made was narrating the dream she had to a friend who took her to Alfa. If she
had told her father, she would not have fallen victim,” she added.
The Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Muyiwa
Adejobi, confirmed the incident.
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