An Ife Prince (here to be simply called Prince G) has cried out that his former mistress, a Togolese, has held him captive for almost ten years, ripped him of his property and investment worth over N500 million. Besides that, the Prince alleged that the ex-lover also set the police after him.
In his account, the Prince said the police who came for him threw him into detention in Lagos with hardened criminals without giving him access to his family members, lawyers and medical care.
Although, he was later granted bail, the Prince claimed that the police still continued to harass, intimidate him on a daily basis like a common criminal.
Prince G’s ordeal started in 2006 when he met Florence, the Togolese lady who was working with the an Embassy in Lagos. At that time, Prince G claimed, he was having domestic issue with his wife and he met Florence, a widow with two children. They became intimate and not long after, Prince said, he decided to move into Florence’s apartment at Yaba, Lagos at the passionate request of the Togolese woman who said it would help to stabilize her emotionally as a widow and also provide the fatherly presence for her children who were very young.
Florence was once married to an Ibo man called Mbah who died in a mysterious circumstance a few years before she latched on to Prince G.
Later, Florence was said to have been sacked from the Embassy allegedly Visa fraud and the matter was investigated by the Nigeria Police high command in conjunction with the Interpol where a big syndicate of criminals who specialized in high level of criminality was uncovered.
Close source informed that after her sack, Prince found a prospect that could complement his own line of business in It was therefore not difficult for him to convince her to work in his company in view of the fact that they were already living together as prospective husband and wife. They both agreed on a 60-40 sharing equity of the company with Prince as the senior partner having a controlling share of 60% and Florence 40%.
The Togolese woman allegedly tricked Prince to let her be an A signatory to the account, claiming that by this, Prince would not jilt her in the future as she is a foreigner.
The alliance engendered good returns for both the business and their sexual intimacy. They promised each other marriage and based on this, they went ahead to buy the house in an Estate in Yaba, Lagos where they both lived.
In addition to the house, they bought other properties in Canada and Togo and their business blossomed to a value of over N500 million with a joint savings of about 550,000 dollars in foreign account.
The relationship, however, went sour when Florence allegedly started cheating on the Ife Prince by allegedly having multiple lovers in addition to the Prince.
According to a source, Prince caught her in the act and she confessed to the wrongdoing with a promise to stop it forthwith. This ugly incident, however, caused a serious crack in the altar bound relationship. The once upon a time love birds now became cat and mouse under the same roof. Things started to fall apart and not long after, the proverbial center caved in.
Apparently unable to carry on as if all was well, Prince at a point decided to take the matter to the court, and also lodged the copy of the court case with the police having realized that the Togolese woman had fooled him all the while the relationship lasted.
According to Prince G, while the case is still pending in court, with the status quo maintained, the Togolese woman who is well rooted in the streets with a lot of friends among the Nigerian law enforcers, one night, reportedly swooped on the Ife prince with a detachment of the Nigeria police numbering about 10, all of them hooded and fully armed.
Narrating his ordeal further, the Ife prince said that last November, the police, invaded and broke into his house in the night. He said he immediately called his lawyer who told him to run for his dear life as it was late in the night and that if he was killed, the killers will be hard to trace.
“I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and sought refuge in the church. While there, I called my lawyer again and he advised me to report the matter to the police the following day. I followed the advice of my lawyer when I came out of my hiding place; thinking that by going to report the matter of the invasion myself, I was going to get a fair treatment from unbiased police officer. But I was wrong. Contrary to my expectations, the police turned hostile and more aggressive than the squad that came for me the previous night. The police boss in charge was not prepared to hear anything. He demanded for the title document of my house where I was living with my lover, Florence who was the accused. “
The Prince said he told him he had no instruction to produce the title document of the house and that he only came to the police station to inquire about the invasion of his house the previous night by armed policemen and to know if they acted on his order. Besides, he said he also informed the police boss that he was in court with the complainant who was his ex-lover and business partner for 10 years over the matter which they invaded his house for. Prince G said that without asking him for further clarifications, the police boss ordered that he should be detained and pronto, he was immediately locked up in the police cell by the IPO.
“I had no access to my lawyer, I was in one dress all through, and I was humiliated and dehumanized. Occasionally when they brought me out for interrogation, it was in the office of the station officer, where Florence, my ex-lover would be seated sharing a drink with the officer and making mockery of me,” while the police boss would be telling me, to forgo everything I had worked for as such is life.
Prince G claimed that on many occasions, the police promised to release him on one condition that he would sign an undertaking transferring his house at the Yaba Estate to Florence, an offer which he said he vehemently declined.
Prince said when they eventually released him after the intervention of his lawyer and some well-meaning Nigerians; he was traumatized and could not go back to the house for fear of another attack.
-Biodun Fariogun
