BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

The Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Shao Park, Ilorin, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State,Mallam Salman Rafiu, was unaware of what fate had for him as he went to withdraw money from the  Automated Teller Machine, ATM, in one of the new generation banks(names wiitheld) along Taiwo, Ilorin penultimate Wednesday morning.

Rafiu, as he is fondly called, was on the queue, awaiting his turn when a middle aged man approached him to know whether the ATM  was dispensing money.
That was when he lost consciousness. Hours later, he found himself in a spacious compound with high fence; it immediately dawned  on him  he had been abducted by ritualists at the ATM  point.

He was in the ritualists custody for three days before he was released.
According to the victim, after the three days in the ritualists den,he was blindfolded  and bundled into a vehicle in the night before he was dumped somewhere along Eyenkorin on the outskirts  of  Ilorin.

The 35- year-old transporter, who hails from Amunyankan compound, Okelele, Ilorin, had been declared missing same day by his relations when he didn’t return home and a  search party commenced.

Narrating his story  to Sunday Vanguard,Salman said he was kidnapped by suspected ritualists at an  ATM point in one of the new generation banks in Ilorin, and was freed  penultimate Saturday.

The victim, surrounded by scores of sympathisers, recalled that he went to the ATM point  to withdraw money on the fateful day, saying  he met  five customers on queue and he joined them.

“Some others came later and the man next to me asked me to confirm if the ATM was dispensing. I said yes, that was all I could remember until I found myself in the hands of kidnappers in a dirty compound,” he narrated.

“I spent three days on a N30 loaf of bread and a sachet of pure water in their shrine. I was ordered to kneel down in front of a  large bowl expecting my blood to flow into the bowl”.

He added that, at intervals, his abductors came to check for his blood; they tried their charm many times but  it failed. The victim stated that after three days, they tied his hands and covered him with  a  white cloth. Rafiu said his abductors later dropped him inside gutter at Eyenkorin around 10 pm penultimate Saturday where some passers- by rescued him.