Abati: I thought I could rattle Tinubu during media chat — but he knows what he’s doing

By Ignatius Igwe

An American, Nicole Kierulff Sayers, has told the FCT High Court Abuja how she was defrauded of $370,000 by a suspected Nigerian internet fraudster, Nwachi Chidozie Kingsley.

Sayers, who lives in Oregon, United States, narrated her ordeal as a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Kingsley’s ongoing trial before Justice Peter Kekemeke on Wednesday, July 3.

This was disclosed in a statement on Friday by EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, saying the suspect is being prosecuted on a two-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining by false pretence and criminal possession of fake documents.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Fatsuma Muhammad, the American identified the suspect before the court as the man who sent her messages on Facebook during her birthday.

“I know the defendant, the defendant messaged me on Facebook on my birthday and he said he was a member of the same spiritual organisation with me,” she was quoted as saying.

“We engaged in romantic discussions and phrases and we engaged in conversations that escalated into a relationship of a romantic type.”

Sayers further told the court that the defendant asked her for money to finance the award of a contract by the Ministry of Works and Housing, claiming that some men were threatening his life if he didn’t provide money to secure the contract.

“Before we met each other, he had asked me for money about eleven days before, and his reason for asking for the money, according to him, was for the award of a contract by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and alleged that some men were threatening his life, if he did not provide the money to secure the contract.

“He asked me for help, and supplied me with the details of the contract and logo and all the information, I believed that because I was in a vulnerable state and I had developed an emotional connection with him,” she added.

According to her, Kingsley told her that if she gave him $15,000, he would repay her within 45 days and she believed him, and transferred the money to the defendant, with an instruction to repay her the money.

Sayers narrated how she transferred the money and how she got to meet the family of the defendant.

Sayers said, “I transferred the money using a money transfer app, he received the money and within one week, he asked me to join him in a FaceTime Video with his family. This was his parents’ house and his entire family was there, which included his sister Doris Nwachi, Kenneth Nwachi, sister-in-law Loveline, his father Chizom, his mother Victoria and his alleged daughter Princess who was then two years old.”

The matter was, thereafter, adjourned till November 7, 2024 for continuation of trial.