John Adegbenjo, 35, was charged with unauthorized use of a weapon and attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon. He remained in a Chicago jail yesterday.

Adegbenjo had joined a friend on a missionary trip with the World Evangelical Ministry, based in Michigan. The group left for Nigeria on Dec. 1 to screen babies with heart defects who might be candidates for surgery in the United States.

Before leaving, Adegbenjo bought a stun gun for protection. Born in Nigeria, Adegbenjo knew firsthand about violence there.

The State Department has warned against travel to Nigeria since May because of increasing crime in Lagos and unrest in the delta region.

"He bought the Taser to take over there to protect the missionaries," said his wife, Susanah Adegbenjo. "They have a lot of different things going on over there."

The State Department warning says: "The lack of law and order in Nigeria poses considerable risks to travelers. Violent crime committed by ordinary criminals, as well as by persons in police and military uniforms, can occur throughout the country."

The warning spells out specific security risks and goes on to say that travel by U.S. mission personnel is sometimes restricted because of crime, general strikes or student unrest.

On the trip to Nigeria, Adegbenjo packed the stun gun with his checked luggage. The gun passed through security in Washington and Amsterdam before he picked it up in Nigeria, Susanah Adegbenjo said.

The flight home would tell a different story. John Adegbenjo packed the stun gun in his carry-on luggage but had removed the battery. Security in Amsterdam allowed the gun to be carried on the plane to the United States without the battery, Susanah Adegbenjo said.

"He didn't think much of having it on the plane because he thought people would know he couldn't use it," she said yesterday.

"When he got to Chicago, they didn't care if it had a battery or not. It was just the potential of him being able to use it, I guess. I don't know."

"If he was going to do anything, he had a longer time flying overseas to use it than just the 45-minute trip flying to Greensboro," she said.

The family moved to the United States from Nigeria about 12 years ago, Adegbenjo said, and moved to Clemmons about a year ago. Adegbenjo is a nurse at Bermuda Terrace nursing home in Advance.

"He's a responsible person, a father of four, people respect him at his job," Adegbenjo said. "He's not a criminal. He would never have a real gun or something like that. He's just trying to make a life in America."

She said she hasn't been able to talk to her husband since his arrest Wednesday night because her phone is not accepting his collect calls, so she has had to relay messages through a friend, she said.

"I hope he will be back tonight, but I don't know. I'm waiting to hear from somebody about what is going on," Adegbenjo said .

Masterweb Comments:
A stun gun is an electrical self-defense device that uses high voltage to stop an attacker. Touching a person with the prongs on the stun gun quickly immobilizes the attacker. However, because the amperage is very low, no serious or permanent injury is inflicted.

Stun Gun( Enlarged Photo )