w Nigerians hypnotised and robbed share stories
By Kate Halim
A lot of people have fallen victim to the strong hold of hypnotists in different parts of Nigeria. These people allegedly take control of their victims’ minds, fleece them of their money and valuables and release them when the deed is done to cry and bemoan their fate.
Mariam Ibraheem, a mother of five said she lost money meant for her business and her iPhone to a man who she believed hypnotised her in Lagos recently. According to Ibraheem, she was driving out of her estate gate when a man started frantically flagging her down. She said she thought something was wrong with her car or her tyres so she stopped beside him and wound down her glass to talk to him.
“That was a big mistake on my part. Immediately I stopped and asked him what was going on, he started saying some strange things. I felt a sudden cold all over my body and couldn’t move. Even though there were people around, I couldn’t call out for help. He moved closer to my face and told me to hand him my handbag, and I did. He also requested for my phone, I gave it to him. He continued to say some strange things until he disappeared and crossed the road and I didn’t see him again.”
Ibraheem stated that what pained her the most was that she usually doesn’t talk to strangers but she stopped to talk to the man because he was inside her estate and she thought he wanted to help her with something. She added that afterwards, she felt so bad for being a victim of such a dubious fellow in broad daylight.
Ibraheem, a graduate of business administration revealed that she had over N300,000 in her handbag that was meant for restocking her shop at Lagos Island market. “I can’t even explain how this thing happened. It was like I was watching a movie where I am the actress. It took me a while to get myself after what happened. When I told my husband about it, he was sad but he comforted me and later gave me money to restock my shop,” she said.
Even though this happened last year, Ibraheem confessed that she still has shivers whenever she thinks about it. She said that what hurt her was the fact that she let her guard down for once and was robbed. Still recounting her experience, she stated that the people around her didn’t even know what was happening. She added that after the man was long gone, she started screaming and asking for help.
She said: “When people came around me to ask what happened, I told them that a man just stole my money and he did it with juju (charm) because I couldn’t stop and I didn’t get myself until he left. There was nothing anybody could do to help me. The man disappeared with my money and phone. They just sympathised with me and told me to go home.”
For Laura Anyanwu, the story is the same. She told Saturday Sun that she believed she was hypnotized by two men who came to her shop pretending to be customers who wanted to patronize her. “They came into my shop in Yaba market pretending that they wanted to buy curtains. When I started conversing with them, I suddenly lost control over my will. They started making some incantations and then told me to give them my money. I was transfixed and couldn’t resist them. I gave them everything I made that day and they left.”
Anyanwu stated that this happened two years ago but she is traumatized by her experience. She said she kept wondering what would have happened to her mother and two boys if the men had other ulterior plans for her like kidnapping her or using her for rituals. She added that it took her months to stay alone in her shop alone whenever people walk in to purchase curtains from her.
“I begged my neighbours in the market not to ever leave me alone with customers and they helped me get over my fear. What I do now is that when people walk into my shop, I start praying and speaking tongues to ward off negative influences and the potency of whatever charm they came into my shop with. Even though I lost money, I am glad that God showed me mercy.”
A single mother of two, Anyanwu recalled that when the men were in her shop, she felt so cold. She added that it was as if she was in a deep freezer. But after they left, the strange feeling was gone and she came back to her senses. Even though she refused to disclose the amount of money she lost to the guys, she noted that it was a huge sum and that she struggled afterwards to get her business back on track.
She said: “If anyone had told me in the past that I would fall victim to these hypnotists, I wouldn’t have believed it. The annoying thing is that these people are everywhere and they strike when people least expect it. I don’t know how they do it but it is better imagined than experienced. People just have to be careful these days because these criminals look like normal human beings.”
Monday Oko told Saturday Sun that falling victim to a hypnotist in Abuja is not what hurt him the most but the fact that he gave them all his wife’s gold jewellery. He stated that the experience wasn’t pleasant and it caused some cracks in his marriage of nine years.
Narrating what happened to him last year with a tinge of sadness in his voice, the father of two said he was going to refill the gas cylinder at home one Saturday evening because he couldn’t get a hold of the guy who does home service for his family when he ran into a man who claimed to have lost his way.
Oko said: “This man stopped me on way to the gas station saying that he lost his way and needed me to tell him how to get somewhere. I can’t remember where he mentioned but as we started talking, he took the gas cylinder from me and motioned me into a waiting car where another man and one woman were waiting for him. They asked me if I had money at home and I said no. They asked what valuables I had at home and I told them my wife invests in gold jewellery. They commanded me to take them home and I did.”
The businessman, however, noted that something happened when they got to his apartment. He said that his children started asking him who came home with and he told them that the man was his friend from the University, but when they wanted to hug him, the man pushed them away and told them that he wanted to discuss something important with their father in the bedroom.
“I think coming in contact with my children would have broken the hold they had on me. Thinking about it now, I feel so bad. I took them into our bedroom and gave them all my wife’s gold jewellery, including our designer wristwatches, my phone and the little cash I had at home. I came to after he left and I started crying and screaming for help,” Oko said.
Oko stated that his wife hasn’t forgiven him for what happened even though he had begged for her forgiveness and told her that it wasn’t his intention. “I think my wife believes that I connived with these people to steal her gold jewellery. She keeps talking about how I didn’t give them any of my valuables except for my Samsung phone. I have tried many times to pacify her feelings but I’m not getting anywhere. I just hope I can replace the things she lost so that she can allow me to have some peace.”
Recently, the bank account of a doctor based in Lagos was emptied by a hypnotist. While narrating her ordeal to Saturday Sun, Peace Omotunde stated that what happened on January 20 2023 would take her forever to forget. She said that a stranger stopped her to ask for financial assistance when she went to buy some medication for her sick child and before she knew it, he was asking her different personal questions.
“He asked me if I was married and I said yes. He asked me if I had children and I said yes. He asked me if I had money in the bank and I said yes. He asked me if I had my ATM card with me and I said yes. He smiled and said something I didn’t understand. He then told me to give him a 500 naira note; I dipped my hands in my bag, brought the money and gave it to him. He spoke into the money and told me that we need to use the nearest ATM point to withdraw some money so that he could appease the gods on behalf of my family.”
Omotunde recalled that after he told her that, he took her hand and started walking away with her. She added that she knew something was wrong with her but she couldn’t resist him. She said that they walked for a while until they got to a bank that was dispensing money. She added that he started saying some strange things again and motioned her to the machine to withdraw money.
“When we got to the machine, he asked for my PIN and I gave it to him. He punched it in himself and started withdrawing money from my account. After the third withdrawal, someone came to ask if he wasn’t done and he said no. He withdrew money five times from that particular machine and we moved to another bank in the same area where he also made five more withdrawals,” she said.
Omotunde said he took her to four different banks where he made more withdrawals and he only stopped when it was clear that there was no more money in her account. She stated that he gave her back her card, made some drawings on her palm while saying something and then left. “When I came back to my senses, I couldn’t move. I tried so hard to react to what happened but I couldn’t. I walked home like someone who was drugged. It was the next day that I told my husband what happened to me and by that time, it was late to do anything about it.”
“Thinking about it now,” she continued, “I feel so scared because things would have been worse. I thank God that he stole money and not my life. Since then, I don’t talk to strangers. If you like, be dying by the roadside, I will just walk away.