I don’t know how I returned to Nigeria, says US returnee

A 68-year-old man from Ondo State, Joseph Ibironke, who claimed to have spent nine years in the United Kingdom and 21 years in the United States, said he had no idea how he ended up back in Nigeria.

In an exclusive interview with Saturday PUNCH, Ibironke, who is from Igbara Oke, Ifedore Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State, said he was married with four children.

However, he expressed his distressing situation of not knowing their whereabouts.

He claims it was a spiritual attack and he lived under a bridge in Oshodi, Lagos, before he found help.

“My wife (his Texan wife) told me that one midnight after making love together and we slept, I started barking like a dog, and that I was foaming in my mouth. She told me that she was scared, called for help and an ambulance was called and they rushed me to a hospital in California.”

“I was there for 14 months and the doctors couldn’t detect what was wrong with me. Nigerians over there (in the US) who saw me and my condition said it was a spiritual attack and advised that I be taken back to Nigeria for treatment,” he narrated

He added, “My family in Nigeria was called and it was arranged that I be taken to Nigeria. My elder brother, Williams, and his first son, Kayode Ibironke, whom I sponsored throughout his education, both received me at the airport (in Nigeria) and took me to the psychiatric hospital in Sabo Yaba, where I was abandoned.”

Ibironke recounted his experiences in a psychiatric hospital, Kirikiri Correctional Service, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

After finding himself in Kirikiri, he was treated, clothed, and fed by the church who took him back to the psychiatric hospital.

But he eventually ended up under a bridge in Oshodi, where he was helped by policemen.

He said he was taken to Pakoto Prayer Mountain in Ifo under the leadership of Prophet Ezekiel Oladeinde where he recovered, though not completely.

He only realised that he was back in Nigeria after his recovery at Pakoto.