On Sunday, Tobi Afolabi, a Lagos-based writer, had a birthday party to attend. Her choice was to book an e-hailing ride as her car was out of use.

Afolabi told FIJ that her first call was to book the trip to the party with Uber, one of Nigeria’s most popular e-hailing rides, but it took forever to arrive. So, changing her mind, she opted for inDrive, a competitor in the e-hailing industry.

But this one decision eventually led to several death threats and curses from the driver who picked her up and other strangers.

READ ALSO: InDrive Tells Customer to ‘Wait Until Driver Turns His Phone on’ 2 Weeks After iPhone Theft

MISSING A TURN

Afolabi told FIJ on Thursday that Oluwafemi Martins Ogunyeye, drove her from Surulere to Maryland, both areas in Lagos. She said that when they arrived in Maryland and tried to navigate the venue of the party, the driver missed a turn and because she was familiar with the area, she politely called his attention to it, but he refused and said he was following the directions on Google Maps.

“When Ogunyeye arrived, I had first asked him if his air conditioner was working and he said no, which I found surprising due to the hot temperature in Lagos,” Afolabi told FIJ.

“So, we got to Maryland, and I noticed he was supposed to make a turn, which he missed, and I pointed that out. But he insisted that the area was built in a certain way and that we would still get to our destination. I said okay. I never want to argue when someone is doing their job, and I want to believe everyone takes responsibility.”

She explained to FIJ that after he missed the turn, Ogunyeye arrived at a house marked ‘Number 8’ but it was not the same as the one she was going to.

“Admittedly, the house number was eight, the same as the one we were going to. But when we got there, I told him, ‘This is not where I’m going.’ I had mentioned it earlier and wished he had listened. The map might be guiding you, but I am familiar with the area and knew we were going the wrong way,” she said.

“But he started arguing, saying he was following the map and that the house had the number eight. I said, ‘Yes, number eight is on the house, but this is not my destination’.”

Afolabi said after going back and forth, the driver arrived at her destination. She rated him two stars and also left him a review. Afolabi forgot about it all and thought it ended there.

ONE REVIEW, MANY CURSES

Two days after the ride, her birthday, Afolabi told FIJ she received a strange message from an unknown contact asking if she knew why people sleep and never wake up.

“I had got the message on my birthday, but I never had the time to check. The message reads, ‘Do you have any idea why people sleep and don’t wake up again?’

“I was taken aback and asked why anyone would ask me that kind of question. This was only 8 am. I asked who it was and he told me he was the inDrive driver who picked me up two days earlier from Maryland to Surulere.

“He also sent me a screenshot of my review and he wasn’t happy about it. But I really did not have a good experience with him, and I left an honest review,” Afolabi told FIJ.

“He was really impolite when I told him he had missed the turn and was insisting that the map led him there, even after I told him that wasn’t my route.

“I told him never to contact me again, as his message was jarring, especially early in the morning and right after my birthday. It was unsettling.

“Then he said, ‘I guess InDrive really paid you for this. I will make you famous today.'”

Afolabi said that less than five minutes after the conversation with the driver, she began to receive calls from different numbers and several WhatsApp messages filled with curses.

She said the many calls were from a Facebook post Ogunyeye had made in a private group on the social media. In the post, he had claimed that he had picked her up from Ajao Estate, another part of the state, claiming she was a spy sent by Task force, a law enforcement agency.

READ ALSO: Lagos Sexual Violence Agency Wants More Information About inDrive Driver Accused of Raping Female Passengers

He had also attached her phone number to the post.

“I got several phone calls, some of them on WhatsApp. I blocked nothing less than 30 numbers. But for some strange reason, one of them only shared a screenshot, and that was how I found out that he had made a post about it,” she told FIJ.

“When I started getting the calls, I figured he had posted it in a group, but I didn’t know it was Facebook. I initially thought it was a WhatsApp group. That was when I discovered he had posted it on Facebook with a completely different story claiming he picked me up from the roadside and that I wasn’t feeling well. Then, another driver politely asked me what happened, and I explained the situation.

“At this point, it was becoming distressing, and I was getting agitated.”

She said that inDrive called her and said his account had been restricted.

“InDrive reached out and said someone would call me. When they did, they couldn’t explain why a driver had access to my number outside the app while customers didn’t. They also said his account had been restricted, but I didn’t push further. I have now deleted the app,” she told FIJ.

This is because I had seen many similar experiences, so this wasn’t a one-off case.

Afolabi said Ogunyeye, who appears to be in his mid-thirties, later called to apologise and said he had acted the way he did out of anger.

“Ogunyeye himself later called me because a lot of people had also called him. He was apologising, saying he’s not a bad person, he just got angry after seeing the review,” she said.

“I told him it’s important to understand actions and their consequences as I wasn’t going to let it slide because I still kept getting calls.

“He called again, and I told him to retract his statement and post a new one, the truth. But I don’t think he agreed to do that.”

Afolabi told FIJ she would take up the case legally. Also, the initial Facebook post had been deleted and a counter-one with her story had been shared.

FIJ sent a message to inDrive via X on Thursday for a reaction to the incident but they were yet to respond at press time. Also, FIJ called Ogunyeye on Saturday but his phone was switched off. He didn’t respond to texts and WhatsApp messages sent to him.

Not too long ago, FIJ reported how one of the company’s drivers was wanted by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) for sexually harassing several passengers.

Also, FIJ found reports on how it has now become a norm for the company’s drivers to assault their customers, both male and female.