It has been reported that the family of a cab driver, Akanbi Musa, has been thrown into confusion following his disappearance 10 days after purchasing a fairly-used vehicle for his car hailing business in the Apapa area of Lagos State.
According to Punch Metro, it was gathered that a yet-to-be identified passenger, who visited the park where Akanbi and other cab drivers used as their operational base in Apapa, requested that the Kwara State indigene should convey him and his colleagues to their place of work in Ikorodu and back for a period of two weeks.
During negotiation, it was learnt that the passenger agreed to pay Akanbi N20,000 daily for his service, but the father of 11 has remained incommunicado since he embarked on the first trip to Ikorodu with the passenger.
“He never returned to the park or his house,” one of Akanbi’s colleagues, Salam Owoyemi, told our correspondent, adding that the last time he heard from him was when he got to Igbogbo in the Igbogbo-Bayeku Local Council Development Area of the state.
Owoyemi said the passenger lured his colleague to where he was kidnapped, adding that Akanbi and the car he recently purchased had not been found.
The Kwara State indigene said, “We operate a car hailing business on the Apapa Port Road, but three days to the end of Ramadan, a man came to our park to hire the services of Akanbi for two weeks. The man said Akanbi would be conveying him and his colleagues to Ikorodu from Apapa and back during the period and agreed to pay him N20,000 per day. On the day the driver started the job, the man’s colleagues allegedly left for work early, so my friend conveyed only the man to Ikorodu.
“Around 3pm, I called him and he told me that they were in Igbogbo, but said the man had yet to pay him. He even said the man did not give him money to buy fuel for the car, so I advised him to come back and that was the last time I heard from him.
“No one knows the passenger; he just came to the park and tricked Akanbi to the place where he was kidnapped. We have not been able to locate him and the green Toyota Sienna that he purchased 10 days before the trip.”
Akanbi’s son, Ibrahim, while seeking the intervention of the state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, to find his father, said his mother and siblings were traumatised by the incident.
The 28-year-old stated, “We are currently facing a difficult time in my family; my father has been missing for almost two months as he disappeared on Thursday, June 6, 2019, and his phone has been switched off since then. We have reported at the Area ‘B’ Police Division and also petitioned the Commissioner of Police. The personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ikeja have been assigned to take over the case.
“My mother has fallen ill because of this incident; we are all concerned about my dad’s well-being. We are calling the attention of the Inspector-General of Police to this matter so that the case won’t be abandoned.”
One of Akanbi’s wives, Hadijat, while lamenting her husband’s disappearance, said life had not been easy for the family members since the cab driver got missing.
“He left for work around 9am on that day and till date, we have not seen him. I learnt that a passenger tricked him to the place where he was kidnapped. He has two wives and 11 children and feeding has been difficult for us since he got missing. We want the police to assist us find him and arrest those responsible for his disappearance,” Hadijat stated.
When the police spokesperson, Bala Elkana, was contacted, he said he had yet to be briefed on the matter.