Ngozi Awulonu, a cleric resident in Lagos, has narrated how thieves hypnotised Stella Awulonu, her 17-year-old daughter, and stole over N635,000 from her.

The cleric told FIJ that if good-hearted people hadn’t helped, her daughter would have been hit by fast-moving cars on the expressway in Ijegun before she regained consciousness.

Awulonu said her daughter encountered the thieves on October 28 while on a tricycle she boarded around Ikotun road.

“They took her to the last bus stop from Ikotun road. After hypnotising her, she got home and took my two ATM cards and gave them to the robbers,” she told FIJ.

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“The boys took her to Ijegun-Isheri road. In the blink of an eye, they withdrew N50,000 from my account with Guaranty Trust Bank while they took N585,000 from my Ecobank account.”

Awulonu said she knew her daughter was in trouble when a strange number called and asked her to meet her around Ijegun.

She said the woman told her her daughter was not in her right frame of mind after the men had left her alone.

“Everyone thought she was mad. When I got to the woman’s shop in Ijegun, I saw a host of people. It was then I realised my daughter was charmed,” she said.

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Awulonu said that eyewitnesses told her that her daughter was screaming on the road and saying that her whole family had died.

“When my husband and I got to Ijegun, I met a host of people. They told me how good Samaritans saved my daughter’s life. She was on the expressway before people rushed to save her,” she said.

“As soon as my daughter regained full consciousness, she asked if I had received any messages. Over N600,000 had vanished from my account by the time I realised what she meant.”

Awulonu said she went to Eco Bank and GT Bank to complain about the issue, but the banks told her they could not do much for her because the thieves took the money through a PoS machine.

“It’s eating me up. I’m not the owner of the money. But I am glad my daughter is alive,” she said.

When asked if she reported the incident to the police, she said she did not.

FIJ contacted Benjamin Hundeyin, Lagos State Police spokesperson, for comments, but he did not take his call. At press time, he had not responded to a text sent to his phone.