Naija Talks (2024)

06/12/2022

ATTENTION PLEASE 👏👏👏

Sometime ago in a large Telegram group where I belong, someone dropped a short message: $500 and $1000 up for grabs, DM.

I messaged him immediately, and asked how much he was selling a dollar.

He said N745, and I priced N700. 'I need up to $2000,' I added.

He agreed, and said that he was going to oblige me my rate because he needed naira urgently. I was surprised.

How to proceed?

He said I'd send him N700,000 i.e. 50% of the agreed amount, then he'd wire me the total dollar equivalent of $2000. I kept quiet.

He began to call me on Telegram. It was 11.30 pm! I declined his call three times, and told him it was too late to receive a call.

'Where are you?' I asked. He said Port Harcourt.

When he saw that I wasn't forthcoming, he suggested we use a platform that offered escrow services.

Being familiar with Alibaba Trade Assurance and their escrow services, I accepted. He quickly added me to another Telegram group.

For those who may not understand how escrow services work, let me explain.

An escrow is money held in trust by a neutral third party for two parties involved in a business deal in which trust is an issue.

Example, if you use Alibaba Trade Assurance to pay for goods in China, that money is held by Alibaba until you've received your goods and certified them okay before it's released to the supplier.

Now, I wanted to know the credentials of the group and that of the third party who happened to be the admin.

First, there were 360 members in the group, with a pinned message in which the admin warns all participants in the most severe, blood-chilling terms to be careful to avoid being defrauded.

He warned that all conversations between all parties must be carried out in the group for every one of the 360 members to witness, and that he charged N500 for all monies paid into his account as escrow.

Of course, calculations of every exchange and the receipts of all monies paid to the admin must be made available in the group.

I scrolled through the messages and pictures in the group to get a peek into the history of transactions.

I saw many receipts and joyful acknowledgements of payments between parties. Everyone is happy. What a wonderful group!

But I still had my doubts. I had to run a check on the admin's profile. His phone number was hidden, same as that of my guy who wanted to sell me dollars.

On Telegram, anyone can bear any strange name and hide their phone numbers depending on what motive they have.

The so-called admin was neither a government agency nor a person known to me. He was simply an 'Abubakar' screaming warnings to assert integrity.

My guy whose ID was as plain as 'S S' had, of course, prodded me repeatedly to re-initiate the chat we had in private in the group for the sake of openness. I had to play along.

I posted my offer and he, again, accepted, and asked me to publish the calculations, which I did. N1.4M.

As soon as I published the amount, a private message came in from someone in the group.

He said, 'Bro, do you want to buy dollar from this group? Just no try am. Na scam. Once the admin confirms your money, they kick you out and block you.

'They scammed me but forgot to kick me out. I intentionally didn't leave the group...'

I thanked him for confirming my suspicion, and told him my guy's desperation outright spooky.

'Just ask him "Why did you scam my friend, and see what will happen",' the messenger advised.

I went back to the group, and simply announced that I'd like to continue with the transaction the following day.

Fiaam! That was how everything about the group vanished. My guy blocked me instantly.

I told the messenger I could no longer find the group, and he sent me a screenshot of my excommunication.

'So far tonight, I've stopped them from scamming 11 people! They won't find out what's hit them... I'll keep being here,' he concluded.

This is how Nigerian Yahoo boys ruin lives and answer 'Odogwu' in the outer society.

This group is a vast network of fraudsters operating on the same rob-and-throw-out principle as one-chance bus.

They take advantage of the scarcity of forex in Nigeria, and cripple businesspeople and those desperate to leave the country.

I have told this story for your enlightenment and security. I urge you to read and share it.

The days are evil, so, we must be more wakeful than the fish to detect the multifarious dimensions of internet fraud in Nigeria.

29/11/2022

Sense or nonsense?

13/11/2022

Ogbonnaya Nwota

She went down on her knees as she was ushered into my office, weeping uncontrollably, she muttered, 'Officer, please, help me. I need your help. Yes, I acted stupidly, but I didn't do it'. Having comported herself, I demanded to know her story regarding a case of fraud of N5, 000, 000 (Five Million Naira) I was investigating.

Amaka, 33, tall, elegant, hippy and b***y, a young graduate in Owerri, is an active netizen of social media. She belongs to many Facebook groups. On one of the groups, the Admin on a Sunday morning asked members to post their account details, as someone maybe touched to 'do Sunday' for them. Different account details flowed ceaselessly on the group's platform and few confessed how some hitherto unknown persons have credited their accounts. Amaka got a chat up from someone who promised to send money to her the following day being Monday. The duo chatted for about 15 minutes on Facebook with the man bragging how money wasn't his problem but a good lady to spend it on. They ended up booking an appointment to see each other the following day since both of them stay in same city.

Both kept to the time of their appointment and in a few minutes, ordered for food in an exquisite eatery where the meeting was taken place. The guy re-emphasized how wealthy a man he is to Amaka and promised to see her more often, when he returns from his intended overseas trip. The guy was glued to his phone and ipad, pressing them interchangeably and smiling intermittently at no one in particular. As they were about to leave, he told Amaka to expect an alert of N50, 000 from him and while he was paying the bills for their order, Amaka got an alert of N5, 000, 000 (Five Million naira), which she didn't notice initially was N5, 000, 000 until when the guy asked her to recheck the alert she got, telling her that he mistakenly transferred 5M instead of 50k as promised.

Both headed to the bank in the guy's car. He told Amaka to withdraw the entire 5M from the bank, pay whatever charges and hand over the cash to him. He as well upgraded Amaka's cash gift to 100k. Amaka who was already elated dashed into the bank, while the guy sat comfortably in his car outside the bank premises. About 30 minutes later, Amaka was back in the guy's car and handed over the cash to him, having collected her N100k. She was dropped off few minutes after and she boarded a taxi to her house with indescribable happiness written over her face. What a day she exclaimed as she opened the door to her house. No s*x, no request for s*x, no touch, no even a hug and she was given N100K. It was simply unbelievable to her.

A week later Amaka was at her bank's ATM to withdraw some cash, but the card got trapped. She went into the bank to lodge a complaint and possibly retrieve her card, but instead of giving her the card, she was handed over to the Police and that was how she was brought to my office.

Police investigations linked Amaka's bank account to a sum of Five Million naira moved from a certain company's account that was hacked into by some fraudsters.

Investigation is ongoing, but until Amaka produces the guy she alleged transferred the said money to her, of course whose Facebook is no longer in existence and phone number inactive and the guy also admits to have made the said transfer to Amaka, Amaka will definitely be contesting her innocence in the court of law, where she will be charged for fraud.

Times are perilous, my people. The criminals are obviously getting wiser and you must remain vigilant in order not to be tacitly involved in a crime you know nothing about. Secure your account details and report to the Police if you receive any suspicious credit alert.

Learn from the mistakes of others.

02/11/2022

Child Safety: The Pain of Tragedy and Lessons In Responsibility

By Bamidele Ademola-Olateju

Yet again, an innocent life is lost, parents' lives are pock-marked with tradegy and a pain that never truly heal. I am deeply saddened by the drowning of Davido's son. The loss of a child is every parent's nightmare. I sympathize with David and Chioma, may God grant them succor and soothe their pain. There is absolutely no reason to kick a parent who is facing the pain of losing a child. It is never okay to lay blames at times like this, but I we must learn from this tragedy. Four years ago, D'banj lost his son in similar circumstance. For tragedies and mistakes not to recur, we must learn from them. One of the first things I learnt when I landed in America, is, America's love for "Lessons Learned". When things go wrong in their personal, corporate, private and public lives, they ask questions, they investigate and look for answers. Every mistake, every tragedy, every death, is investigated. When cars suddenly shift from park to drive or reverse, causing a death or injury, no one calls it an act of God or blame village witches. The car manufacturer pay damages to victims, find the root cause and issue a recall for that model. Everyone who bought that car, gets a letter, informing them of the recall and where to get it fixed. The car is fixed at local dealerships, at no cost. Along the line, improvements like that, thorough safety tests, as well as innovation got us the beautiful cars we all ride today. Batch numbers are issued for every product so they can easily be withdrawn if something bad happens. Fruits, meats, even clothing have been recalled.

Same thought is applied to child safety. Every summer, some parents leave their children in locked cars, in sweltering heat, resulting in the death of children. The government does not hesitate to prosecute such parents. It is up to the jury to determine culpability.

If you have young children at home, childproof your home. Block all electrical outlets. Remove any piece of furniture that can tilt over. Get rid of plastic bags (you call it nylon bags) to prevent them from pulling it over their heads causing suffocation. If you must keep them, tie them up individually in knots and keep it away from where children can reach it. Many household cleaning products except Harpic are not childproof in Nigeria. Keep bleach, detergents and other products in the laundry and locked away in a cabinet. Install a detachable gate at both ends of your stairway. Have a fire extinguisher installed on your stairwell or somewhere central in your home. In case of fire, you can at least fight your way to safety. Have smoke alarms installed and change the batteries even six months. Switch off every electrical outlet when you are not at home except your refrigerator and freezer. Up till today, my homes in Nigeria and America are characteristically bare. There is nothing that can harm a child even if the child is left unattended for an hour. If you have young children, maintain uncluttered, bare necessity homes. Many children have died from what is called sudden infant death syndrome. Americans investigated this thoroughly and they issue advisory to new parents on how to avoid it. They did not do it by placing the holy Bible beneath the child's pillow.

If you must have a pool in your backyard, fit any door leading to the pool with an alarm. Once the door k**b is turned, the alarm goes off and you can find out who is accessing the pool. I insist we must copy processes when we copy ideas. Oyinbo people whose ideas we copy, have safeguards. None of them will leave their pool unmonitored. Children have been known to drown in ankle deep waters. Children are inquisitive, they explore their environment. It is how they learn. When they explore, accidents can happen but we must know they are accidents. If negligence is involved, we must investigate, acknowledge it and learn from it. We should stop looking at issues on the periphery. What if someone knowingly drowned the child? What if the child was killed and his death was made to look like drowning? Yes, it is their child, but that child is a citizen whose life and death should count in the eyes of the law.

I admit I am a worrywart and a helicopter parent, I believe the best mistake is the one never made. As a parent, do your best, take precautions, when bad happens, you can be guilt free and be consoled that you did your best possible. May Davido and his wife find the strength a time like this, demand.

19/10/2022

Please don't cross the blue rail once it is electrified.

It's a health and safety issue.

04/10/2022

DEFENSIVE DRIVING

Defensive driving is a form of training for motor vehicle drivers that goes beyond mastery of the rules of the road and the basic mechanics of driving. Its aim is to reduce the risk of collision by anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others.

Avoid accidents by correcting problems that may become dangerous.

Consider these top ten defensive driving tips.

Defensive Driving Tip #1: Eliminate Distractions

Scientists have studied the reasons behind the large number of car accidents that occur every year, and the most common cause is that the driver has been distracted. For this reason, eliminating distractions is #1 among top ten defensive driving tips. Limit the number of distractions that you have in the car, such as eating or talking.

Defensive Driving Tip #2: Focus on the Horizon

Rather than keeping your eyes fixed on the car right in front of you, keep your eyes on the horizon as you watch the traffic ahead of you. You will be able to see any activity that may cause an accident, and it will give you plenty of time to adjust accordingly.

Defensive Driving Tip #3: Stay in One Lane as Much as Possible

Many car accidents happen when a person suddenly changes lanes and gets rear ended. Choose a lane and stay there as long as possible.

Defensive Driving Tip #4: Keep an Eye on Lane Changers

If you aren't the one changing lanes, then you need to keep an eye on those who are. Many drivers try to slip between cars, even if it is too dangerous to do so. Watch all of your mirrors so that you can see anyone who may be approaching you quickly. Slow down to let them pass if necessary.

Defensive Driving Tip #5: Watch Blind Spots

While some people may not zip in and out of traffic, others carelessly move into another lane without checking their blind spots. In order to avoid getting struck by one of these drivers, stay out of the blind spots of the cars around you. You can accelerate so that they can see you clearly, or you can slow down so that you are a safe distance behind the other car.

Defensive Driving Tip #6: Avoid Eye Contact

Scientists have found that road rage is escalated when drivers look directly at one another. Most people who suffer from road rage are looking for ways to anger others rather than getting angry about something that has just occurred. Avoid making eye contact with these drivers, and continue driving as you were.

Defensive Driving Tip #7: Check Intersections

Intersections are where many accidents occur. Many drivers will simply start driving when the light turns green, but not everyone stops when the light turns red. Check your left side for any cars that are ignoring the red light, and then look to the right before you start driving through the intersection.

Defensive Driving Tip #8: Know the Rules of Swerving

It is very important that you only swerve if you are unable to prevent an accident otherwise. In order to swerve safely, you should make sure that the lane that you will be entering is empty, and return to your lane immediately to prevent further problems.

Defensive Driving Tip #9: Keep Your Distance from Bad Drivers

If you notice that someone is showing signs of being a bad driver, then you need to keep your distance. You may want to change lanes and slow down to let the car pass so that you don't have a chance of it rear ending you. If you need to pass a bad driver, try to keep a good distance between you.

Defensive Driving Tip #10: Don't Tailgate

When you drive too closely to another vehicle, you increase your risk for an accident because you leave yourself very little room to avoid an accident. Try to stay at least three to four seconds behind the person in front of you. If you have a larger vehicle, you will need to allow more room so that you will have enough time to stop. Tailgating is on just about every top ten defensive driving tips list, and for good reason.

By following these top ten defensive driving tips, you will be able to prevent accidents by simply being more aware about what is going on around you.

Naija Talks

06/12/2022

29/11/2022

13/11/2022

02/11/2022

19/10/2022

04/10/2022

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