The Morning I Said “Nobody Can Scam Me

It was one strange morning,  but somehow bad at the same time.

I was sitting in front of my workshop at Igbogbo Bus Stop with some area friends. We were just talking about life in Lagos: hustle, bad boys, scammers, and all the things we’ve seen and experienced. During the conversation, I confidently said, “Based on my experience, nobody can scam me again.”
Funny how life listens when you talk too much.

A few minutes after my friends left, a man walked up to me. He looked calm, well-spoken, and confident. He greeted me and said, “I have a business deal for you.”

I asked him what the deal was about.

He said a medical doctor from Ikorodu General Hospital sent him to help get about 50 PCs for one private hospital. Immediately, my mind said, “December go better.” It sounded like a breakthrough.

I told him I could handle it.

He then asked if I had a sample laptop he could show the doctor. Coincidentally, I had just gotten a laptop for a teacher in Bayeku, so I showed it to him. He checked it and said he was okay with it.

Next, he asked if I could bring the laptop to the hospital within one hour so they could show it to the doctor. I agreed.

Exactly one hour later, he called me and asked me to come over.

When I got to the hospital, I met him there. He told me to sit with the patients waiting to see the doctor. After that, he said he wanted to enter one corner and would be back in about five minutes.

When he returned, he said, “The doctor is busy attending to patients. Let me take the laptop inside and show him alone. If he likes it, I’ll call you in for negotiation.”

It sounded reasonable.

He collected the laptop and walked into a door that looked like the doctor’s office entrance. He came back almost immediately and said the doctor was already checking the computer, then went back inside again.

After about four minutes, my spirit was no longer at rest.

I stood up, walked to the door, and opened it—only to discover that it was an exit to the backyard of the hospital, leading to another building behind it.

That was when my heart dropped.

I immediately called his phone—no answer.

I rushed to the gate and told the security man what had happened. He looked at me and said, “Did you just come to Lagos?”

I was short of words.

I called the man again. This time, he picked up and said calmly,
“My brother, the laptop is gone. Don’t worry yourself looking for me.”

That was how, on the same morning I said nobody could scam me again, I was scammed clean.