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A young lady emerged from one corner of the hotel lobby and greeted, “Good evening, sir.” I responded half-heartedly as I made to walk up to my hotel room. I usually don’t like using the lift. She walked up to me and greeted again. I stopped to listen to her. “I am a massage therapist,” she began. I nodded my head and asked if she has an office in the hotel. “No. I am a mobile massage therapist. I can come to your room and massage you,” she said.
At this point, my senses were on high alert. I was in Abuja penultimate week for a meeting of the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS). I came down from my hotel room about 8pm to do a few things outside the hotel, located in Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja. It was when I was going back to my room that I encountered this young lady.
I simply told her I didn’t need the massage at that time. “Maybe some other time,” I pleaded. “Okay, can I have your phone number so I can come back when you are free?” she demanded. I didn’t need to pretend again. I told her pointedly that I wasn’t interested in her offer at all.
She stood transfixed with surprise, as I walked up to my room. I doubted if the hotel authorities knew about the activities of this young lady and her ilk. It’s possible she got another man that night or probably moved to another highbrow hotel to look for another person to deceive and extort money from. If I had succumbed to her antics, anything could have happened.
The massaging could enter into the mode of romance and sex, including the money that will go with it. Or, she could have a secret camera to record and blackmail one for money. Some people have fallen victim to this kind of set-up. But due to shame, they keep silent while the blackmailers continue to extort money from them at will.
The experience of a brother and friend, Ugochukwu (surname withheld) is imperative here. Last May, Ugochukwu, who happens to be an interior decorator, got a call from someone who wanted him to come to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to do a job for him. My friend demanded to know how the Ibadan man got his phone number. His would-be customer claimed someone Ugochukwu had worked for gave him the number.
Innocently, my friend left for Ibadan on the appointed day. According to him, two men came in a Toyota Camry car to pick him from where a commercial bus dropped him. They took him to a remote house and showed him some places to measure for new curtains. When he was done, he informed them.
Shockingly, as he was about to go, they blocked him and asked him to pull off his clothes. He tried to argue with them, but one of them pulled out a dagger and threatened him. He removed his shirt and short, leaving only his boxers. But the strange customers wanted him to remove even the boxers. When he tried to argue, a lady reportedly emerged with a shotgun and threatened to waste him if he failed to cooperate. My friend said he pulled off everything and was completely naked.
To his greatest surprise, they started recording him. When they were done, they asked him to dress up. They dropped him where he could get a vehicle back to Lagos and offered him transport money. He rejected their money. Since it was already late, he looked for a hotel and passed the night in Ibadan. He went back to his base in Lagos the following day.
Surprisingly, Ugochukwu, probably out of shame for what happened, did not tell anyone about his experience. It was not until last week that he decided to open up. Someone who calls himself Naija Blogger had called him and drawn his attention to a video and message he sent to him on Whatsapp. When my friend checked, he saw a video of himself stark naked. Intermittently, a video of a naked lady with legs wide apart will also appear on the screen. The blogger said a lady sent the video to him. He demanded money so that he would not post it on social media.
His message, unedited, reads: “Sir, I’m Blogger tee coded by name actually im a blogger what I do is to blackmail sir a work is going on you now bcoz a girl is called Joy and I have a video clip of you naked sir all I need from you is that just give me order to post and cast the video I will post it to Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok and all social media all ur friends and family will see it…think you know the results of blackmail just try to cooperate with me and let settle this man to man!”
Realising that this handshake had passed the elbow, Ugochukwu called me to narrate his experience. I blamed him for initially keeping the information to himself and not informing the police about it. If not that he is someone I know very well and can vouch for his integrity, I would not have believed his story.
I accompanied him to a police station in Lagos to make a formal report. Of course, the police also blamed him for not reporting the incident on time. For security reasons, I will not disclose what transpired at the police station and what the police asked us to do. In the interim, my friend has pulled down his Facebook account because that is where the blackmailers will likely display their odious video. Their demand for money has not been met. We await their next move, which may not go beyond threatening to post their video on the social media.
Like Ugochukwu, the University of Jos graduate, John Arum Azi, who was kidnapped last April in Kaduna State, was lured with a fake job offer by unknown people. Narrating his ordeal during a testimony at a church in Tudun Wada, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Azi said he was abducted shortly after travelling from Jos to Zaria, Kaduna State, for a welding job opportunity on April 11, 2026.
He believed the job was legitimate because the suspected kidnappers had persistently called him on phone to come for the work. They even sent him transport fare. Though he had his doubts, he still boarded a motorcycle to a village from Zaria as directed by his abductors because he desperately needed the job.
He soon arrived at the village and was taken to a remote forest on a motorcycle by one of the men who contacted him for the job. To cut the long story short, the abductors later moved him from Kaduna to Zamfara State through forest and isolated routes after stripping him of all his belongings.
On getting to their camp in Zamfara, the kidnappers tied his hands and legs before demanding N30 million from his family. He said he was repeatedly tortured and interrogated about his religion. They later reduced the ransom demand to N6 million after negotiations. When they received the money, they demanded an additional N4 million. He eventually survived the ordeal after friends, relatives and sympathizers rallied round to secure his freedom. He spent 11 days in captivity.
Ugochukwu and Azi are lucky to have come out alive. Many people have gone missing through this way and never returned. The same Ugochukwu told me a story of three colleagues of his who went to Bayelsa for work a few years ago. They reportedly finished the work and got paid. But along the line, they went missing and have not been seen up until today. Some have been invited for phantom job interviews only to be kidnapped or scammed.
These days, there is need for eternal vigilance on the part of every citizen. We must be mindful of our movements and actions. If any stranger calls you for a job outside your place of abode, don’t just jump into a vehicle and start going without carrying out some due diligence. Confide in close friends and relatives about the job offer. They may detect some sinister intentions that may escape your scrutiny. If you must go, let your people know the exact address or location of the job offer. We must be security-conscious in and outside our homes. And should you suspect any clandestine movement around your area, do well to contact the nearest police station.
Meanwhile, the return last Friday of the abducted children and their teachers from three schools in Oyo State calls for celebration and thanksgiving. The victims spent nearly two months in captivity. Their release is a big relief for many Nigerians. Rather than talk about rehabilitation of the so-called repentant terrorists, government should empower and motivate security agencies to deal with them decisively.
