A
popular injunction in the Holy Writ says he who thinks he stands should
beware, lest he fall. Human beings have a tendency to take their
strengths for granted, believing that they can never be found wanting or
make mistakes in their areas of strength. But cases abound where the
enemy used people’s strengths against them, causing even the mighty to
fall in a manner that no one would ever expect them to. Such cases
include some men of God who have fallen on the altar of adultery because
they took their spirituality for granted. They believed they were too
spiritual to fall, and so were not watchful. So when the enemy tempted
them with fornication and adultery, they were neck deep in it before
they realized what was happening to them. This is why the above
Scripture warns those who think they are standing to beware so they do
not fall.
That
Scripture played out in the life of a businessman in Abuja who fell
into the hands of fraudsters otherwise known as 419ners. This
businessman was the last person anyone who knew him would expect to fall
into such trap because of his no-nonsense disposition. The man who
owned a chain of companies had zero tolerance for indiscipline,
corruption and hypocrisy. And he was religious, a pillar in his church
and a patron of a famous organization in the church. With these
attributes, everyone thought he was above board.
But
somehow, a group of 419ners based in Lagos captured him. They were said
to have entered into a business partnership with him, promising to
import some machinery into the country to facilitate the business.
Having succeeded in convincing him to do business with them, they
allegedly put him under a spell and began to milk him of cash in
millions of naira which they demanded for from time to time, under the
guise of needing it to procure the machinery or to clear it at the
nation’s ports. The businessman was very wealthy, and being under a
spell, he gave them all his life savings. When that was not enough to
bring the so-called equipment to Abuja, he began to sell his landed
properties in Lagos, Kaduna, Jos and Abuja and sending the proceeds to
his 419 partners. The house in Lagos alone was sold for N30 million and
he promptly sent the money to the fraudsters.
This
man’s family was based in London, so he lived alone with domestic
servants, while he and his family exchanged visits. His extended family
eventually got wind of what was going on between him and the 419ners,
and they decided to pay him a visit to counsel him to stop whatever
transactions he had with them because they were fraudsters, and his
association with them had begun to affect his businesses. But the
businessman chased them out of his house, livid with anger at his
people’s insinuation that he was being conned. He insisted that no one
could con him. He was so sure of himself, that he was too smart to be
scammed. He even thought it was an insult to his personality for anyone
to insinuate that he was being conned or under a spell.
By
that time, he was becoming broke. That was how his family got to know
what was happening to him. But after failing to convince him of the
truth, they watched helplessly as the 419ners took everything he had
from him. They couldn’t involve the police because there was no concrete
proof. His personal and domestic staff who eavesdropped on his
telephone conversations with the 419ners kept telling his friends and
relations what was going on. And their story seemed to be corroborated
by the businessman himself as he kept telling people close to him that
he would soon be wealthy again and even own a private jet and the wealth
would also rub off them because he was expecting something big, and he
had been investing in that big thing.
The
situation got worse when one of his wife’s relatives hinted his family
in London about his association with the 419ners, warning them to stay
away because those fraudsters would not hesitate to eliminate anyone who
tried to free their victim from their captivity. Frightened that their
lives were now in danger, the family abandoned the businessman to his
fate. They stopped visiting or communicating with him. The realization
that his family had abandoned him really demoralized him, causing him to
emaciate more and more. And being under a spell, he too did not go
visiting them as he used to do.
It
got to a point that the businessman was behaving weirdly. Unable to pay
his staff, he began to lay them off. He shed so much weight as even to
feed became a problem. Eventually, he fell sick and due to lack of
adequate care, he gave up the ghost.
No comments:
Post a Comment