Sometimes I wonder why the world is so wicked, some people have killed their conscience that they don't mind hurting others for their own selfish needs, I've always read or watched movies about this dubious set of people not until I became a victim.
It was my first year of marriage when I and my husband thought of getting a bigger apartment as a leap of faith while trying to conceive, we planned to get an extra room where would always call our children's room even though we weren't even pregnant yet, it was a fun idea and since we could afford the upgrade, I supported him so we went house hunting, if you stay in the Lagos, you would understand how tiring and annoying this process can be, even with your money at hand, and employing the services of a house agent, even after telling them what you want, they would first make sure to waste your time taking you to where they know you wouldn't like so as to demand for more money before taking you to a better choice, so I thought.
After the stress of touring what seemed like the whole house in Lagos, we finally settled for one that suited our taste, it was a new building, and the finishing touches were being put in place, judging from the quality materials used, the pop ceilings and wall, the bathroom, the room sizes, it was just perfect, there was no how someone would resist taking the place after setting eyes on it, not knowing that it was all a trap to entice unsuspecting victims. The house owner was an elderly man, a Muslim cleric, and seemed quite respected with the way people around him behaved, you know that respect you give someone that is rich.
Back to the apartment, we were told to pay for the apartment, while the construction was almost completed and we could move in two weeks, according to him it was the last apartment still vacant in the beautiful compound and it could get taken as soon as we walked out, that means people had already paid for others, I really liked the place but hubby was more sensitive, but looking at me, he decided to pay half, get a key and complete the rest payment when the workers were done, the man accepted, we paid in cash, unknown to them, he had asked me to video record the transaction, my husband has always been that security conscious person, while me on the other hand never suspected anything.
To cut the long story short, we came around noon on the day the man had asked us to come for the rest of the keys and make the rest payment so we could move in, only for us to find a crowd of people gathered at the gate entrance, still, we thought maybe something happened outside and never thought it was a situation that affected us as well, only for us to move past them to our supposed apartment, while many eyes followed us. We arrived there only to find that someone had already moved in and 10 others also claimed ownership of the same apartment, the same situation can be said for other apartments in the building, and the crowd we saw outside were supposed tenants, the landlord was nowhere to be found neither were his boys or any worker we had met two weeks back, it was a well planned dubious act, to lure us to pay and given the same day to move in, it even made the headline newspaper, we were all given receipts and some even paid for 2 years upfront.
We all had to sue the landlord who was arrested on his way out of the country, the case has been ongoing for almost 10 years now, trust the Nigerian government not to get us justice, the man made lots of money duping us, after several court session and adjournment for years, I got tired of going because our money was never refunded, trust Nigerian lawyers or law enforcement agent at your peril, they were all after their pocket rather than seek justice for us even with the video evidence of payment I presented, I'm sure that same man will be a free man walking somewhere enjoying his Life after stealing from us.
As for me, I lost trust in the Nigerian judiciary system because it only favours the rich.