Deaf couple duped

How a deaf couple were conned

This deaf couple few months ago fell into the hands of a 419 house agent whom they paid 450,000naira[four hundred and fifty thousand naira only] for a self –contained apartment .Sinces.Taiwo Abiodun writes

They are not only psychologically traumatised but also financially strangulated .They are in pains. They could not believe what happened to them could be true. This however reminded one a verse in the Bible that God regretted to have created human being when He discovered that men’s thought are full of evil.This summarises the pathetic condition of this deaf couple who paid 450, 000:00naira[four hundred and fifty thousand naira] for a self –contained apartment but were conned as the suspected fraudster bolted away and never showed his face again while the unlucky couple are now biting their fingers .

The couple Mr and Mrs Adewale Modupe Adebowale showed how they were badly hurt as they gave body signs , gesticulated and with other signs they used to communicate among themselves to this reporter as if he[ reporter] could understand. Yes, in annoyance if they could speak they would have spoken as they made effort to speak, unfortunately no words could come out from their mouths as hot teardrops fell like water from the face of the husband while the wife too was genuflecting, begging and was petting him to keep his cool. She raised her hands up to heaven and gave the signs saying God knows best. She genuflected , and rubbed her hands begging the government not only to fish out the conned man but to come to their assistance and get another place, an interpreter told The Nation.

A petition letter dated December 13^th by the couple was sent to The Nation office which reads ‘’We write to appeal for help over fraudulent activities of a landlord and his agents who duped us of the sum of Four hundred and fifty thousand naira [#450,00:00] being three years rent payment at No 38C Dairo Street , Ketu-Lagos.We are deaf couple, the husband is a shoemaker while the wife works as factory worker at Jagal International Group,at Ikosi Road –Oregun-Lagos’

Sir/Madam , we borrowed money from my wife’s company an d added our little savings to rent a mini flat as a one room apartment we are currently living at Ojota becomes too tight and with no sufficient space .The money was paid twice in April and May this year .But , since then when we asked to pack into the house, we found out that some other tenants are living inside .When we sought to collect back our money it proved abortive as we cannot see the landlord since May nor his agent found as well.We reported at Police station at Ogudu Road Ojota [close to our residence], the police are yet to assist us locate the people.

At work , my wife is always moody and lose[sic] concentration which led to her having an accident recently in which she lost a finger .She suffered for two months as she went for surgery on the lost finger .We thank God she is better but yet she is still worried about the rent which the dubious landlord and his agent defrauded us.We need your help to reclaim our money .

Kindly please have mercy on us as we are both profoundly deaf and cannot be begging around , we need a new place to live and if we can collect back our money we want to look for a new place.

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding and May Almighty God bless you abundantly [amen] .

Showing the photocopy of the receipt of 450,000naira to this reporter which dated 07-05-2010, with the letter headed that reads ALPHA PROPERTIES ,Real Estate Agent , Property Developer &General Contractor , 22, Oyebajo Str., Fadeyi ,Lagos State.Te:07036519371, and 07060576476, with receipt number 0000199, stating that the couple had paid 420,000naira, while on the back of the receipt were the following statements ;pay twenty thousand naira remain[sic] ten thousand , make sure you pack in on Thursday next week.

However, when The Nation visited their Ojota residence, the couple showed this reporter all what they bought in preparation to go to their new abode; the paints they bought to paint their new proposed place, new settee , among other things they planned to take along to No 38C,Dairo Street, Ketu. The husband also through and interpreter told The Nation on how one of his wife’s fingers cut off while working as a result of frustration they were experiencing as she works as a factory worker where she borrowed money from.

Their interpreter ,Adewale Adeyanju who is the National President of National Handicap Carers Association of Nigeria [NAHCAN] who too is partially impaired interpreted their signs, as Modupe said ‘’ this place is too small for us , though the landlady has been nice to us and we have no problem but it is too tight and we are not comfortable living in this small too. I had a baby sometimes ago but the baby died , now we are looking forward to getting another and move into a bigger place.. She continued ‘’when we got to the house as stipulated after paying twice , we were driven away as we saw another tenant who had occupied the place allocated to us. All efforts to get the landlord failed as the suspect, Sunday, that collected the money from us had disappeared since May this year. When we made effort to locate the address on the receipt at Fadeyi , there is no such address.’’

On how they got the place, the couple through their interpreter said they were introduced to the landlord by somebody while one of the organisation’s interpreter ,Mrs Chidima Oyeleye went with them to pay for the house. When contacted on phone Oyeleye confirmed that she was aware of the money paid and was surprised that the couple could be swindled without pitying their condition.

When The Nation went along with the them to the house at No 38C ,Dairo Street, Ketu, the house containing six mini flats had been occupied One of the tenants ,Cynthia described the case of the couple pathetic, she said’’I don’t know how they had the effrontery to defraud the couple .I am here by sheer of luck as I was called where I was to come and quickly occupy a mini flat before others occupied it. The agent who also called himself Sunday had disappeared , and since then many people had been coming here to occupy or curse him, he was know to be the agent and developer whom we all paid to.’’, she added’’ many people were defrauded even policemen and Bankers , I believe over 50 people paid to the guy and the worse part of it is there is no soak away here. I used to go to the toilet in the office or use nylon bag where I defecate like others and throw it away in the morning .We are in a terrible condition here,’’

When The Nation visited the address of the agent Alpha Properties, 22,Oyebajo street, Fadeyi, Yaba, a shopping complex which is under construction was found there while some artisans working on the building said the suspect had defrauded many people and his case has been reported to the police at Sabo police station but did not know why he was released on bail. Another added that he had been charged to court ‘’but nobody could beat his chest and say he could identify him. Nobody knows him and he could not be identified by anybody We don’t have his photograph and it is the same man that let out these shops which are still under construction out.He collected a lot of money from over 200people and bolted away. We even learnt that he has other cases all over the place where he acted as agents and collected money from many people. When the case of the deaf couple was mentioned , a man who claims to be the leader of OPC said the suspect who is known as Sunday

Is even wanted by the residents, he said ‘’we will catch him one day, we learnt he has fled to the neighbouring country ,Cotonou , but God will catch him one day’’.

On the fate of the deaf couple , they are now soliciting to good spirited Nigerians to come to their aid.’’We are begging the Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola to please come to our aid .It is unfair to see us being treated like this because of our disability .We are hard working and that is why we refused to go to the public to beg for alms. We are working as a factory worker and a shoe maker. We are living happily and thought of the future that was why we borrowed money and added it to our savings to take a self contained apartment but see where we are today.We are begging the public to please assist us ‘’, they begged as an interpreter interpreted what they said to this reporter.

Give me my gold WEMA Bank!

‘ WEMA Bank give me my gold!’

Doubts have pervaded the air for some Banks’ customers while many have lost their valuable materials others lost their cash but only few are bold to speak out. Now, this woman refused to keep her mouth shut .Taiwo Abiodun writes

Among the roles of a Bank apart from keeping and lending money is also keeping valuables in their custody like gold, diamond , certificates, Wills among others.

Today, one cannot boast of Banks of being save whether in keeping cash or otherwise. Many now believe that it is more safer to keep valuable materials and money at home instead of Bank.

Madam Enitan Olayinka Harper a long time customer with WEMA Bank is now pleading to the good spirited Nigerians to help her ask WEMA Bank to produce her jewelleries she kept in their Bank before she heads for Court and for them not to loose their reputation.

Now Madam Harper, 69, is ready to fight with her last pint of her blood in order to retrieve her valuable gold of which the WEMA Bank , Egbeda Branch claimed had been stolen by armed robbers. She has vowed to go to the Law Court to sue the Bank for defrauding her. Since the bank had refused a gentleman agreement her lawyer proposed.

According to Harper , she has been banking with WEMA Bank for years which made her to deposit her gold she allegedly valued then at 3million naira [three million naira] in their custody at their Egbeda Branch office. The items were said to have been collected with the inventory taken. A copy of the application letter itemising the jewelleries and signed by the branch secretary was also made available to The Nation. The transaction took place in 2004. She told our correspondent that she has been paying three thousand naira as interest every month.

Along the line obtained a loan of 150,000 naira [one hundred and fifty thousand naira] from the Bank in 2005 of which the agreement was to pay within one year , that is 2006. She had paid 50,000 naira from the said loan. When she requested for her gold she was told that it had been transferred to the head office.

The story later changed when sometimes on December 6, 2010 Again ,when Madam Harper arrived from London and met the Bank’s management of Egbeda Branch and demanded for her gold to sell in order to help her take care of her daughter who was hospitalised in the United Kingdom,

Her words ‘’ my late daughter was suffering from cancer and was hospitalised in the United Kingdom, I was with her for sometime in the hospital, when I discovered that I needed money to assist her I came back home, Nigeria . I went to the Bank to demand for my gold in order to sell it and go back to London to assist my ailing daughter financially and also pay up the balance of the money I borrowed from the Bank. On my arrival at the Bank k the then Manager Wasiu Adeniyi asked me to go and bring the buyer .I said it was not possible for she needed not to know the buyer , Again I demanded for only one item in order to sell and offset the 100,000naira and later I would collect my gold to sell and go to London to take care of my daughter who was being given pints of blood of about 2,500pounds weekly yet the man refused but would ask me to come back every day for one week. .Later the manager said I should give them a week and that the man who knew how to open the vault where the gold were kept had left the Bank. Later the Manager said the gold had been sent to the Head Office’’, the woman narrated .

However, since the woman was still owing the Bank, she told the Manager that she would not pay the balance unless the Bank produce her jewelleries .She said ‘’I was surprised when the Manager later told me that in the year 2010 armed robbers invaded the office and carted away my jewelleries and N25million from the strong room’’, while the woman insisted as she did earlier on in 2006 that the box of her jewellery must be produced before she could pay the amount she borrowed from the Bank, while she did not pay the balance of the 100.000naira since they failed to release the gold in their custody. She contacted her lawyer who wrote to the Management of WEMA Bank .

The lawyer was invited for settlement but nothing came out it, while the Bank is accusing the woman of her failure to pay up the balance of the loan which had gone up to 500.000naira the woman is also asking them to stop adding interest to the money unless they produce her gold.

A letter was fist sent to the WEMA office dated May 25^th 2011 while another was written again on June 21^st June , 2011 by Ogunsanya Chambers was sent to The Legal Adviser of WEMA Bank that reads ‘’ we found it difficult to accept the robbery incident because our client requested for her safe custody items in 2006 and the Branch claimed robbery attack on 6^th day of December, 2010.Over five and half years of debt accumulation through interest applications .You will agree with me that there was no correlation at all…..’

However the Head office at Marina responded to the letter on the 17^th of June 2011 and invited their client and the lawyer for a meeting which reads Your letter dated May 25, 2011 in respect to the above subject refers .Further to our efforts towards addressing the grievances of your client vis a vis the release of safe custody items allegedly lodged with the Egbeda Branch, we here by invite you for a meeting geared towards achieving this end’’, the letter was signed by one Valentine and Kunuji and Johnson Lebile from Legal services Department.

According to the lawyer Kehinde Agboola, the lawyers from the Bank started singing different songs .’’There is something hidden from the woman and I believe if the Management from the top stepped in she would have justice.How can a client keep her valuables with you and paying three thousand monthly you cannot provide them for her and you are accruing interest over the money she owed you. It is unfair ‘’ he stated

When The Nation visited Wema Bank head office at 54 Marina Lagos, the Public Relations Officer, Mr.Femi Adeniran said the bank acknowledged the receipt of application letter for the safe keeping of the jewelleries from the woman as the standard practice but there was no contract binding the two parties. He added that the purported valuables had to be valued and properly insured with the actual time limit the items were to be kept within the bank custody before the bank can be said to be liable. “By the time you do all these things, you know of course there was a contract”. He admitted to have called for a meeting of which the client’s lawyer attended but could not resolve the issue. He explained further that jewelleries and other valuables are usually kept in the head office and couldn’t have been kept in their branch the Branch claimed to have been robbed .He went further to say that the woman ought to have enough evidence by showing receipts of the transactions as hand written paper she presented with the stamp of WEMA Bank and signature evidencing the acceptance of the goods is not enough evidence to show.

The woman who to have been having transaction with the Bank said she used to deposit dollars, and pounds sterling with the Bank when she was still doing business in Dubai. She vowed to take the Bank to Court for unnecessarily increasing her interest on the remaining 100, 000 naira she was yet to balance. ’’I am heading to court, they must produce my jewelleries .They must also stop the interest accrued on the money I borrowed , let them produce my jewelleries and I will pay their balance’’ , she added’’ I cannot be cheated like that ., I have my name to protect, my husband was a Permanent Minister during the Gowon regime .I cannot be hoodwinked .Let them give me my gold.’’

‘what I saw in heaven and hell ’

This carpenter –turned pastor who claims he has been to hell and heaven reveals what he saw in the two places. Now, anytime he narrates what he saw in hell , he would be feeling the physical burning of the heat in hell. He experienced the hell fire again last week at an open field in Aboru-Ipaja. Taiwo Abiodun writes

Anytime he opens his mouth and reveals what he saw and experienced in hell he feels the burning sensation on his body emitted by the hell fire and then keeps on screaming on top of his voice while about 30 already stand by drums of water would be poured on him to cool him down .He foams from the mouth and become unconscious for 12 to 13 hours before he could regain his strength again. He had been experiencing this since 2001.

Welcome to the life of Pastor Moses Ezekiel of The Heavenly Vision World Evangelical Ministry who claimed he was in trance in 1987 and visited hell and heaven .’’I was alone in my room in 1987 when I was in trance and visited heaven and hell .In hell I felt the heat , its like when you are in Lagos here but feeling the heat from Abuja. I saw a lot of people from different races , black and white burning and crying .I heard the voice of a woman crying and begging and pleading to come back to the world receive Christ Jesus, she said her husband made her to be where she was now –hell.

‘’Another , a youth cried that it was his friend who said they should enjoy the world a little while a man was crying and begging for water but there was no water for him to drink ‘’said the 44year-old pastor , who had preached in about 216 places.

According to Ezekiel, paradise is full of gold , the road , houses and everything is gold , ‘’I saw mamy people in white garment in paradise while some had crowns , stars on their heads others wore only white garments praising God. I saw Jesus Christ, he is handsome , huge and beautiful .He is a tall man .It is not the picture that we frame on the walls in our parlours that we call Jesus, he is different entirely.

Jesus drew the cloud aside and we were looking at the earth and the world .He said’’ see those who claim they are holy , who said their names are in the book of life .Men are wearing knickers bucker and wearing punk to church .Women are putting on wrong things, burning their head to my house while pastors quarrel over money and positions . Tell them to change from their ways, go and preach the salvation’’

On when and how the heat started from his body, the pastor said ‘’anytime I am revealing what I saw in hell I will be feeling the heat from my tummy and it started from cooling it with sachet of water then the heat spread to my body while vapour would be coming from my head while buckets of water would be poured on me from buckets of water to drums of water until it went up to 20 , 30drums of water. If they don’t pour it on me I will faint as my blood would get dried and my eyes would be turning.

‘’After that I could be in coma for 12 to 13 hours. In order to regain my strength again I would need to shout 100 halleluyah, jump up and regain my strength , then fresh anointing would come and I will become whole again.’’

Asked whether other men of God accept his claims, he responded ‘’many believed while many did not , but I thank God that I have won many souls to God to gain paradise’’

Pastor Joseph Adegboye Adeniyi of Strong Tower Pentecostal Missionary Church, Aboru-Ipaja said ‘’I invited the pastor for a crusade last week and it happened again at the open field here. I am convinced that God is using him to warn the world that there is hell.’’

Mr Julius Adegunna the publisher of PTL News Christian magazine described the experience as shocking , he said ‘’ through out my life I have never seen such thing .I have never witnessed such . The pastor was screaming on top of his voice that he was feeling burning sensation and of hell and drums of water were being poured on him , he was rolling on the ground .It was too much until he was bundled and driven off in a Bus .

While some argued that he could be faking, others said it could be hallucination while some said he might need medical experts to diagnose the burning sensation for it is unbelievable.

Owo- Young Wizard the magician

‘I am now a Born Again Christian’

Pa Kehinde Ilesile practised magic for over 40 years .He is now a Born Again Christian .He says he does not want any of his children to practise magic for it is evil. Taiwo Abiodun met him .

For those whose ages are between 40 and above , the magician called Young Wizard will easily come to mind especially in the old Western State, Northern Nigeria and in some African neighbouring countries where he practised the magical art. He had preformed magic in various schools both in primary and secondary schools, and in tertiary institutions between 1950s and 1990s . But today Young Wizard had stopped the practise and says it is unchristian.

Young Wizard met God in the church during a Sunday service. After listening to a sermon about the ills of magic practise he then had a change of mind and later discarded all the abracadabra he had practised for over 40years.

He gave his reason :’’ A pastor preached in the church that magical art is not good and that it is unchristian .The sermon touched me . When I heard this I repented .I am now a Born Again Christian .I have learnt my lesson that magical art does not pay’’, he said in a croaked voice and then sank into the dirty and torn sofa chair in the living room. The old man now lives at Omi Adiye , in Owo , Ondo state.

Young Wizard has become a shadow of himself. He is no longer bubbling .His chubby face has disappeared while his body is now wrinkled .He looked sick and weak courtesy of old age.

Probed further on what he has gained from the magic business so far in terms of wealth , in response the old man declared’’ I have no money . I was only popular then . I only had fame but I was not rich. Now ,I am living in my father’s house .I have no house of my own but I still believe that it is not too late to build a house .

I am now over 70, there is nothing God cannot do’’, he told The Nation.

That is the life story of the septuagenarian magician , Kehinde Ilesile popularly known as Young Wizard. The nickname was given to him by some Britons who watched his performance and were amazed at Sabo Hotel , Ita Balogun in Lagos in 1958.’’When the Britons or colonial masters who were in Nigeria then saw my magical feat at Ita Balogun they were shocked seeing a young man like me performing in magic in big way . It was there they gave me the nick name and called me Young Wizard. Since then it stuck on me and only few knew my real name’’ .

On the type of magic he performed that earn him the nick name Young Wizard , he said ‘’ I was drinking drink beer from the bottom of the bottle without removing the cork ,and the spectators were amazed that was where they started calling me Young Wizard.

At over 70 , Young Wizard has grown old and the energy in him has gone .He looked pale and sick. He said ‘’ I am now sick and I am old . I no longer practise magic again. It does not pay’’.

He told of his experience when he met the Lord, he said ‘’ I have accepted Christ into my life. God is beyond everybody .I now believe there is power that is above all these things called magic .I will not practise it again and now I have abandoned it

.I now go to church. I attend Christ Apostolic Church . I now go to the house of the Lord to pray .I have accepted Christ into my life .God is beyond everybody. Man is wicked . I have seen a lot’’, he declared with emotion and betrayed self pity as he turned into a preacher .

Ilesile did not attend any school of magic to study it, as he told The Nation ‘’I did not have any formal education .I did not learn the art of Magic. I did not go to any school of magic like those ones the late Professor Peller went .I did not have any formal education, . My parents did not send me to any school, ’’.

At the age of seven, Kehinde Ilesile was taken away by the whirlwind where he spent three years in the thick forest , it was there he learnt the art of magic. When he returned he began to perform magic.

He said ‘’I remember that if I stretch out my hand and demand for any object , it will appear. If I ask it to disappear it will disappear. I can call a stone to appear or disappear and it will be so. I only need to say the word or command it . That was all. I don’t know where they come from and I don’t know where those things disappear to. I don’t conjure any spirit , I did not go to school to learn the art .I am unlike those who went to school of Magic that would have to say one thing and followed it to the letter.’’.

Asked whether he knew the late Professor Peller the popular Magician , he answered to the affirmative and said :’’Yes, the late Professor Peller went to School of Magic but I did not . I am an illiterate. I cannot speak English . That is the difference between us . I also remember Oladokun of Ikirun and Alimi Ibarapa who were also magicians along with me then, they were my senior in the profession and did not go to school to learn it like me too.’’

He boasted that he did not perform ‘box match magic ‘ or carried instruments about like other magicians but used bare hands to demand for things that would appear and disappear ‘’

According to him he had performed in many states and towns in Nigeria like Lagos , Ibadan, Oyo, Owo, Akure , Oshogbo Kaduna, Kano and in the West African neighbouring countries such as Ghana , Benin Republic, etc. His words ‘’ I have performed in many places .I used to go to schools both the secondary and primary to perform. I used to drink beer from the bottom of the bottle instead of removing the cork ,and that was where they started calling me Young Wizard.

He told The Nation one of his close shave with death :’’ I was once swept away by the Atlantic ocean’s sea waves in Lagos. The waves took me to the middle of the ocean but God is so wonderful that I was washed ashore again. I thought it had finished but God rescued me . ‘’He confessed that “ There is no magic one can perform on the sea , it is a different terrain entirely. God used to send His angels to keep watch over us all the time .He has angels guarding our noses, head and other parts of our body , that is it’’ he said, trembling. .

However, in spite his magical feat he said the side effect of magic is bad for God did not support it. He argued that “ God did not support magic, that is why one cannot be successful in it .There is no money in the profession in Nigeria for it is not regarded as a serious business . They did not appreciate it as they do in overseas countries . Here, if you claim that you are a magician they will accuse you want of trying to dupe them. They will call you a liar. They forgot it is part of entertainment. It is a profession in the civilized world. But here people will hate you if call yourself a magician’’

He said whatever materials he used magical power to attract or collect he does not use them but gives them out to people, ’’Ha! We don’t use the materials or objects or spend the money we used abracadabra to get. It is forbidden, we must not do it’’, he said with a frowned face.

He believes that witches and wizards do exist but says they put people into trouble. He said he did not practise any of these and refuted the claim that he is a wizard ‘’I am just like ordinary person like you and calling me Young Wizard is just a nickname .I sleep and wake up like any other person , there is nothing extra ordinary in me .I am a human being like any other person’’.

Where is the power now? The Nation asked while he too responded ‘’I don’t have to do it again I have stopped . Since I had been going to church and listening to sermon.

I was into star gazing, Ifa oracle and divination and many other things but in the end I stopped it. There is nothing in it, it is all evil.’

However, Young Wizard did not pray to pass the profession on to his children as he screamed’’ No! . God forbid. I don’t pray to pass it on to my children. Do you think Magic is a good thing ?. It is not a good thing my brother .It is not a good thing . I reject it .None of my children should do it. Never and Never!’’ he swore

one chance business foiled in Lagos

For a lady Cashier, Amarachi working with Shoprite , at Alausa , Ikeja it was a lucky for her for she could have been kidnapped or duped by suspected Get Rich Quick people.
Two men and two women were in a Mazda car with registration number CX 487-FST were caught last Friday by the the Police at Alausa , the Lagos seat of Lagos government last Friday around 10am when a lady called Amarachi was sandwichched and was almost kidnapped when the law enforcement agent caught the dare devil men of the underworld.
Amarachi , a cashier with Shoprite supermarket, an international supermarket located at Alausa who was abducted narrated how she was almost hood winked and kidnapped.'' when I waited endlessly for cab and did not find any , i decided to join the cab called kabukabu not knowing that i was in a wrong vehicle.Few minutes after joining the cab , the driver started the conversation and asked one of the ladies what she kept in her bag in the boot, the woman replied and said she kept pampers , again the driver said if the policeman found any strange thing in his boot he should not be held responsible .And the woman and the other woman started begging and declared they are prostitute and then begged Amarachi to help them beg the driver, later the two women said they had dollars in their bags and claimed they are prostitutes.I was afraid and I asked them to drop me but they refused , they asked me to bring out all my things.
''Later , I struggled to get out of the cab at Ministry of Environment , Alausa.I made effort to unlock the door while they too pushed me out and I started screaming , and screaming .They pushed me and i fell into a gutter while the policemen and other Mobile Police officers came to rescue me.I was taken to the Mobile Clinic and was treated of my bruises .I thank God for rescuing me from these kidnappers ''.
When this reporter met them at the scene , the suspects had already been mercilessly beaten and were half naked , if not the timely intervention of the police and Mobile Policemen the suspects could have been lynched'.
When this reporter got to Shorprite, many did not know what had befallen Amarachi, their staff.While some who heard about her misadventure came to sympathize with her.The suspects are now cooling their legs in the police custody.