Kidnapping: former editor escapes abduction after collecting flyer in Lagos

A former Style Editor with the Compass Newspapers, Ronke Kehinde, narrowly escaped been abducted by suspected persons after she was trailed by three suspected assailants in a car at Ikeja, Lagos.

Ronke, who is the wife of the publisher, newsmakersng.com, Dipo Kehinde, narrated how under the influence of a substance purported released through a flyer into her car by a lady who was sharing it at traffic snarl up, drove practically drugged and almost unconsciously through Ikeja to her house.

Mrs Kehinde, while narrating her ordeals during a thanksgiving service in her church last Sunday said “three assailants trailed her immediately she collected the flyer and started having strange feelings of dizziness and unconsciousness.”

Describing her escape as “miraculous”, said it all happened last Wednesday when in a traffic, “I was on my way home from the Computer village, Ikeja; driving towards the bridge, near Ikeja General Hospital.

“There was a traffic holdup due to the traffic light under the bridge. Suddenly, a lady appeared from the blues with flyers in her hand. She was by the passenger’s window, but her hands were already inside my car, holding the flyer to my face.

According to her, the girl said, “You can buy landed properties by paying by instalment.”

Ronke on newsmakers.com/facebook explained that she wasn’t actually interested, but had to take the flyer because she wanted the girl to leave due to her persistence.

“I took the flyer from her and dropped it on the passenger seat beside me. As soon as I moved, I noticed something strange. My eyes were peppery. I immediately took the flyer and threw it on the floor of the car because I wasn’t sure if what I was feeling was as a result of the flyer, or maybe it was coming from the surrounding.

“I took the roundabout turn, beside the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH); and connected the flyover near Awolowo house. As I continued to drive, I was feeling so dizzy and uncomfortable. My face was peppery.

“As I was getting close to Guinness, I noticed a light brown car following me. There were three men in the car. Anytime they get to my side, in the traffic, they would all look at me intensely.

“It was at this point, I realized that it was a set up. Although I was uncomfortable, I was conscious of my environment.  While driving, I stuck my head outside the window, so I could get fresh breeze. I was choking.

“Those guys were expecting to see an unconscious woman or one who is struggling to remain conscious. The lady that gave me the flyer must be working with them, she narrated.

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It was learnt that when they noticed that she was fully conscious because she was looking at them, they stopped following her.

She further narrated that when she got home and told her husband, “he opened the same flyer, the effect of whatever it was laced with was still very potent. His eyes became peppery. He wrapped the flyer in a cellophane bag so that a forensic analysis of the substance could be carried out to determine the content of the drug or chemical.

She warned motorists to be aware and careful observing that kidnappers might have resorted to other techniques to get their victims.

National Daily gathered that the flyer could have been soaked in a potent street drug called Burundanga (also known as Scopolamine), which criminals now use to incapacitate victims before attacking them.