How A Lagos Businesswoman Lost N10 Million To Herbalist & Three Witches

A Lagos businesswoman desperate to revive her dying business sought the help of a herbalist and his three wives, who posed as witches. They eventually swindled her of N10 million. The woman, Helen, first became frustrated when she noticed that the business of a shop owner next to her’s, suddenly became successful, while her own became stagnant  The Sun reports.

“I own a cosmetic shop in Balogun market, Lagos Island. I have a neighbour who could barely pay her rent in the market. Suddenly, she was having so many customers and her goods hardly stay up to three days. She was always traveling to buy goods at least three times in a month and that is unusual. It was really embarrassing and I sought solution everywhere, all to no avail. It was then that my friend advised me to seek an alternative source of attracting customers,” she said. 

Helen’s friend referred her to a newspaper advert that claimed to have the ultimate remedy for stagnant businesses. She then decided to contact the individuals listed in the advertisement. 

“Initially, I went to see them at Mushin and I was given a form to fill with my passport. They took N8000 and told me that the money was meant to be used to buy all the in­gredients which include chicken, hot drink and some other things that would be used to appease the gods. 

During the consultation, the herbalist told me that it was my neighbours in the market that had stolen my star. I believed because my business suddenly started dwindling. I can hardly finish selling my cosmetics in three months,” she said.

The herbalist then told her that she would need to accompany him to Sango Ota to collect money that she could use to reinvest in her business. She begged him to go to Sango on her behalf. However, he refused, stating that the money would lose its potency if anyone other than the owner picked it up.

She eventually agreed, and she was taken to a room that had red curtains.

“Suddenly, the light went off and started blinking. I wanted to run out but discovered that the door was locked. It was then three women all dressed in white appeared. They showed me a carton full of money and asked me to go and bring N3million to cleanse the money and make it mine.”

The three “witches” threatened her life, telling her she would die if she did not comply. Helen subsequently returned to the location and provided the N3 million. Again, they told her to bring  N6 million and then N1 million for different ritual sacrifices. Each time, they threatened her life.

It was the intervention of Helen’s husband, Okafor, that saved her. He became suspicious of his wife’s movements, as she would sneak out of the house early in the morning and come back home late. “I confronted her and she told me that she went to visit a friend in Sango. I was worried because this has never happened before.”

On January 28th, he decided to follow his wife to find out the truth about her suspicious movements. He was surprised to be led to a shrine.

“They tried to stop me from entering but I boldly broke the pot and they threatened that I will die. They gathered us to drink all kinds of concoction and to also sign an undertaking that we hired them to perform rituals. We agreed and was detained for the whole night while witches including Deborah told my wife to try and complete the ritual. To escape from them, we agreed and was released the next morning. The next day, I reported the matter to the police.”

Photo Credit: The Sun