Well, it wasn't my rumour in the first place, but...
I will stand by my assessment of yer man as 'ebullient' as being fair and balanced. The story I got about the way he left seemed believable, but of course someone could have just sold me some duff gen. After all, it wasn't as though I invested money in the truth or falsehood of this. Certainly it was striking that he was very much there one day and gone the next, which always raises questions.
The story seemed believable to me, but what do I know? I can tell you much stranger ones that I know to be absolutely true.
I used to do a bit of flying in marginal VMC, not down to helicopter minima, but pretty crummy even so. I don't miss having to do that sort of thing very much at all, actually. It was fun landing in Escravos when the helicopters were still grounded or being the only guy to get into old Warri Airstrip but then the fun sort of wore off as I became older and smarter or at least older.
My hat is off to you guys for the way you can find your way around, but... downtown Lagos in thick harmattan dusk would be incredibly hairy, I would think. Not least, there is the charming local custom of just erecting this or that structure and worrying about the formalities later. You could be the very first guy to find out about that new radio mast right next to your landing pad.