By Olaoluwa Ajifolokun
Chinenye Anyawun thought she was in love when she met a man through a dating site online. Little did she know that her newfound love would soon result in heartbreak and financial loss amounting to almost N3 million naira.
Anyawun recounted her story during an interview with Lucky Udu on his Facebook Channel monitored online by Church Times.
According to Anyanwu, she met the man online in March 2019. “He was an easygoing fellow. I did not suspect I would be scammed” Anyanwu lamented.
She fell in love with him. Soon, they got attached, and in July of that year, he came to see her in person, after which marriage talks began.
Though everything was happening in a rush, Anyanwu felt secure in the bond they had formed and she accepted his marriage proposal.
The man himself made the wedding arrangements since Anyanwu was busy at work. He went on to secure a date in the registry and came back with the verdict that the wedding notification which was to take 21 days had been shortened to seven days.
Anyanwu did not smell a rat. They got wedded at the registry. It was not long after the marriage that the man’s intentions started to surface.
A week after their wedding, he asked her for N50,000, saying it was for a special prayer to be performed for the two of them, and that he needed both of their money to make the prayer effective.
She trusted him and gave him the money. This was the beginning.
In the weeks that followed, the new husband continued to request large sums of money, eventually collecting about N2.5 million from her, apart from what he had borrowed from her friends and family.
He said he needed the money to process visas for some people, as he was in that line of business.
Anyanwu did not know that was part of the con game going on right before her eyes Three weeks into their marriage, her husband left her saying he was going on a business trip.
The relationship ends
Their communication deteriorated rapidly thereafter. It was during this time that Anyanwu found out she was pregnant. Her supposed husband was not too excited to hear the news. He maintained a cold attitude and was not going to come back home anymore.
That was the last time she saw him. The man eventually stopped talking with her on the phone.
Anyanwu quickly reached out to her supposed family members only to discover that all the people he introduced as his parents and family members were people who were not connected with him. He had rented his parents and friends for the wedding at the registry.
It’s now four years since the incident happened.
Anyanwu has a son from the brief and painful union. She is yet to let go of the emotional and psychological aftermath of the experience.
As she spoke about the experience, she felt so ashamed and traumatized by what had happened that she lost her job due to her inability to cope with stress.
But despite everything she has gone through, she is hopeful. Though her perspective about marriage has changed, she remains open to love.
She advised any lady in search of love to beware and do their due diligence before getting hooked to any man.