Ogun-Lagos road: How disguised ritualists, kidnappers hunt for passengers

By Adeleye Kunle

As government and security operatives make efforts to stop insecurity in Ogun State and Nigeria in general, ritualists, kidnappers, robbers and rapists have now devised a new method to hunt down unsuspecting passengers and make them victims.

Findings by Track News show that they now operate under the guise of commercial cab drivers and cyclists.

In most cases, these fake commercial drivers are among those the Yorubas popularly described as Sọọlẹ̀. They pick passengers by the roadside without any traceable motor park and drive them to their destinations.

The sọọlẹ̀ system is rampant on major roads across the nation. Some of these drivers engage in the practice to avoid being on the queue for several hours waiting for passengers at the approved motor parks. Most passengers also do not like spending precious time awaiting other passengers before embarking on their journeys.

To entice roadside passengers, the sọọlẹ̀ drivers beat down their transport fares as they do not pay charges imposed on their colleagues by transport union officials at motorparks. Some of them, it was gathered, make more money than their colleagues at the parks. Commuters with low budgets, those who are in a hurry and those whose houses are far away from the approved parks find pleasure in roadside drivers