This came from a NAIJABLAB reader !!!
Dear Naijablab,
Please this piece is for your information and publication, so as to prevent other victims from falling mugu to a young man (who thinks he is smart) going round Lagos houses, pretending to be a 'washing machine repairer'.
For some time now our washing machine broke down. My husband couldn't care less, as he has always insisted God gave us hands, so why should we live our lives relying on machines. But for me, washing machine is an absolute necessity. I went online and got a few phone numbers of washing machine repairers in Lagos. Not many of them came up. I narrowed down to two. Called the first one who came and stripped down my machine, without finding a tangible solution. I got mad, and asked him to leave. Called the second guy, who says his name is OLUMIDE OD_NU_A. He claimed to live around the Pedro area of Shomolu.
This geezer came and gave a big impression of himself by promising heaven and earth to fix the fault. He identified the problem, and said it costs N24,000 to buy the faulty part. I was warned by my husband to tread carefully with persons you get on the internet claiming to be experts etc etc. It took me weeks to make up my mind to go ahead. Within a month this desperado known as Olumide had called me over a dozen times asking if I wanted to go ahead. I should have suspected foul play. I stupidly succumbed and asked him to send me his account number. He sent it, and I paid the N24,000, and he promised to go buy the spare parts asap and return to fix it next day.
Next day I saw no Olumide. I called Olumide. He did not pick phone. I called again and again...no response. He finally called me one evening telling me a lot of rubbish.....that the spare part was no longer in the market, but that he would need to come and carry the washing machine itself in order to be able to source the part. Alarm bells started to ring in my head. Something told me I was in for big trouble. This guy was getting comfortable with his 419 scheme, and must have felt he could go further and slam the final dong on a 'mugu'! I discussed it with my husband, and he immediately objected.
I called Olumide back and told him not to even think about it, and to return the money if he could not get the spare part in question. He cut the phone on me. I tried several times to reach him...never picks phone. I had the coincidence of discussing it with my neighbours the next day, and they told me I was very lucky, and that he would have made away with the entire machine. I live in Omole Estate, Ikeja. This same guy is said to have operated in the Lekki/Ajah area with impunity, where he must have made away with hundreds of Washing Machines. He goes for washing machines because he knows that frustrated owners find it hard to get trained repairers...unlike fridges, air-conditioners, and TVs...etc.
Fellow Lagosians, please watch your backs. Too many 419ers on the loose, preying on innocent hard working people. The economic condition has brought out innovative, unsuspecting dimensions to this game known as 419. Also please be careful how you use the internet to get services....especially that of blue collar employees. We have seen how house helps even kidnap kids. The only regret I have was not to have asked him to come and pick the machine, and then arrest him in the process. I also feel violated, having allowed the idiot to enter my house (kitchen) in the first case.
Thank you.
Lolade Owolabi
(Insurance Executive)
No comments:
Post a Comment