My experience with Scammers

19th of October! A Day I will Never Forget.

Just like every other normal Mondays that appears to be a tight and busy day for people, yesterday’s experience was one of a busy and good one for me till something I could never have possibly imagined happened to me that left me in utter shock and disbelief. An
experience which made me underwent mental, physical and emotional
fear…….

It was about 3:20pm yesterday sunny afternoon when I closed from my training, and was preparing myself to go home, but before then I quickly rushed to the bank very close by to make withdrawals for my transport as well as for my subscription which expired earlier that
day in the morning, and also money for my tithe. Specifically, it was about #3,500. Immediately I withdrew, I then went back to my trainer’s office to pick up my bag which had my laptop, charger, andriod phone and some other papers in them. I bade them goodbye till Wednesday as my next class continues on Wednesday and Friday.

Just as I left, the unexpected happened.

Read on…..

Few distance away from the office just along the market area which of course is in a public, an over-bleached average young man who presumably should be in his early forties approached me to ask for directions to a place. Now walking at a very slow pace, he asked me
“please my brother, do you know where I can find Dental clinic here”
hmmm, with a rather stern look I replied no.  I am not familiar with the terrace of this area, may be you can ask someone else. I turned to continue my journey home when he stopped me again and said he’s not from Nigeria, he just came in from Cotonou with his goods of all
electronic gadgets like phones, laptops and all what not, but when he asked some of the market women there and some passers-by of the place, they reply him with “Mii Mo” a Yoruba language which reads out “I
don’t know” still unconcerned, I told him to ask somebody else, just
as I was about going, another man, dark skinned and with a little
flesh on him with some tattoos on his skin. Well, should I say another
passer-by, as he was passing?

The “Cotonou” man stopped him and asked for the place, immediately, without much ado, the igbo man who by mere appearance, you will know he’s a trader shouted with all alacrity; “ oh, yes na, I sabi the place. Na igando e dey na, pointing hands to
another direction” chaiii, he muttered, now looking at me and said
“make we help this man, he be like say he carry goods come, may be he
no want make people cheat am, now turning to the cotonou man he told
him “we” would help him.

The cotonou man looked at me and said his
goods are at Egbeda, after Isheri, in one of his custom friend’s
place, if only we can follow him to help him count the money when he
sells them that he doesn’t want them to cheat him. Immediately, I
looked at him and the other man and asked, Egbeda? No I can’t go
there. I’m sorry was what come out of my mouth. The “white man” then
said to me pls help me, I don’t know your currency, just help me count
them and you can come back.

Don’t fear, I’m a Christian….hmmm, I
looked at him, looked at myself, mused over it. At that point I
couldn’t tell if I was going or I was coming. My inner subconscious
was telling me to go back and my physical being was dragging me
front……to cut the long story short, I eventually followed him with
that other man who kept on gingering me to pacify him and earn his
trust so he wouldn’t think of us the same way he thinks of others.
I paid his transport as he said the buyer is already there and once
he’s done, he will refund me back.

I wasn’t myself, I felt I had
started a journey to nowhere. You know that feeling that comes when
you try doing something totally against your will. I wasn’t moved by
all the things he said he was gonna do. Not even an inch. Eyes opened,
fist tightened I kept on watching the two with a premonition. We got
to the Egbeda, and then entered another bike to the place. My oh
My….still playing out how I started with them at the first place. When
we got there, the supposed custom friend welcomed him and we that came
together. Now it was around 4:30pm….he took us in, not his house, but
somewhere outward not a too conspicuous place as we can still be seen.
Still scared to death, the cotonou man and the other guy beckoned on
me to come sit and stop fearing….but I didn’t at first, told them to
start whatever he came for let me go. As I sat, that his friend that
welcomed him told us he wanted to bring the goods from his sister’s
place nearby……few minutes as he left, he came back asking the white
man if he is owing custom $1000, and he said yes, the man then told
him his sister said they have come to carry them saying until you pay
the money.

Then I stood up telling them I wanna leave. The white man
then asked him about the two boxes containing about 100,000 white
papers each, didn’t know what he meant. He said yes, he had them with
him, but that he’s only with two white papers as the remaining were
inside. He then told him to bring the water and detergent. I then
asked him what that was for, but his response was rather vague. The
man brought the water and detergent, mixed in our very front then
dipped the white paper inside it, and stirred. Barely 60seconds, he
told me to bring it out, lo and behold it was #2,000. That’s one
thousand naira note.

The two guys screamed in a purported disbelief.
And decided to tell him what that its money, Nigeria currency. The
white man then said he do ship for all these big men in Nigeria. Then
he proceeded that for him to earn our trust, we will enter oath, he
started to say while he was on ship he belonged to 7 societies there
so as not to be cheat. I bluntly told him no. they made me gave them
every dime about 3000 + I had on me with theirs and joined it together
saying it’s the oath, that we shouldn’t tell anybody else we die. My
brother, from that point, It felt I was in a trance, like though a
occult movie was playing out.
Later, the other two “irresponsible” men had gone to fetch a chemical
worth about 100, 000 from a proclaimed white man, (I guess they
already had all of it there) when they came back, the white man sent a
man who he claimed he’s a pastor to come mix the solution as he alone
can do it.

The man later came with a name as Pastor Francis….Good
heavens, when this man can, he said we should pray, as he started
calling on the name of some gods I don’t know, and began to see
things, how we started, even told the man I came with of his personal
problems, that we are in danger, and God has through that cotonou man
bless us……in my mind I rebuked it, even after his whole rigmarole and
washing of the paper, I would simply reject it. Profoundly speaking, I
wasn’t interested. What shocked me to my phone marrow and increased
the fear was what he later said, that the oath of which I didn’t take
part is a strong one and needs to be broken else we would die if
revealed to someone else. Good heavens!!! At this point I was
dumb struck.
The fear all visible, I told him I don’t do all these
and would simply want to go, the next thing he said the ring has
entered our phones. Meanwhile, all this while my andriod phone had
been in my pocket, only the nokia C1 was visible as I held it in my
palms. He told me to bring out all the phones on me, I brought it out,
and now he said the ring had entered the bigger phone…..he collected
it with the other men phones, by the white man had left us. He then
said for us to break the oath, we must buy a chemical each of us bring
30, 000. There and then I told him I hadn’t such amount. He asked how
many accounts we had and the amount, that we should lie before God. We
told him, he said we should give it to him and tell him the pin let
him get the chemical and break the poison, that it wasn’t easy for
him. We should speak to the atm, I told him, he went…..few minutes, I
got alert about 14,000 has been debited. I felt weak, famished,
shocked, and off all, dreadful. All I wanted was for him to break the
curse as he said it could kill if not removed. Later he did another
thing, asked one of the man that welcomed the white man to bring water
for us to wash our hands, he brought it and told us to pray while
washing it together. As we stared washing our hands, it turned to
blood.

Heaven bears me witness. Perhaps they faked it, I can’t say
then. As everything was happening right in front of me. He shouted and
started to talk to his God through his palm. He then said we should go
home and light candles round our house, I said I can’t do it. He then
said we should go home, at night, we should ransack the house when
everybody must have slept or probably are not at home, we would see
money, and bring it. First I told him we don’t have money at home, and
second my mother wasn’t around, she went for prayers, she’s a
deeper lifer.
He said we would see, that we should question God. Even
he quoted a verse in the Bible, Isaiah. I then said OK, but God knows
aint gonna do any of those, even though I was still scared. I
requested for t.fare as he’s sapped al the money from my pocket and
account. He then gave me 500, and told me and the other man to go
separately to avoid bad thing happening.
From that moment I started to ponder over all that had transpired.
Immediately I picked up my nokia phone and googled about white papers
turn money, water turn to blood, and all sort…..i found something
insightful about it.

As I got home, kept mute as they instructed not
to tell anyone to avoid untimely death. I kept ruminating over all
this. That night to this morning, I fought a war, as I agonizingly
prayed, connecting to heaven. They ripped me of my phone and about
#17, 000, which I had budgeted for something when school resumes and
clearance begins. All gone. I just thank God he saved me and spared my
life. For what he said, what you don’t know will not kill you.
I feel devastated though. It would have grown worse if they took my
laptop, cause its my life, the files and other important stuffs there
are what I can’t just see missing. My phone, hmmm, all those
information gone, and to think of it, they removed my sim and gave
them to me.


TO GOD BE THE GLORY.

Unedited