Obinali, a thirty-year-old guy from Lagos’ Shomolu neighborhood, has made a surprising admission about his involvement in internet fraudulent operations known as yahoo yahoo.
He described how he defrauded a white man, Mr. Winson, whom he met online, of N4.5 million. The victim is a citizen of the United States of America who lives in California.
On January 9, he made the confession at a presentation hosted by The Lord Chosen Church called ‘What God has ordained shall be done.’
Surprisingly, Obinali was already a church member when he committed the cybercrime. However, he claims that he did not spend the money for unknown reasons. He retained it, and he continued to attend church services.
As the word of God continued to pierce his heart, he declared that his eyes began to awaken to the fact that what he was doing was against God and humanity.
On a fateful day, he resolved to restore all of the money he had taken from his victim. He described it as a “great burden” that lifted as soon as he returned Winson’s money.
Obinali, who works in interior design, said he suffered a business setback that required tens of millions of naira to recover from. He claimed that his goal was to collect N60 million from the US citizen, but that the individual only paid N4.5 million, which he kept.
He said that he had been operating for years from his Shomolu home. He claimed that all he needed to find his wealthy target were smart devices and internet access.
He said: “Every time I went to church the pastor kept on mentioning that ‘if you have money that is not your own return it, and God will bless you.’ This was what actually moved me to return it.
“The white man was made to believe that he was rendering a help to my health issues, which was a lie. That was the lie I sold to him and he had compassion on me and sent the money.
“So when I returned the money, the white man was surprised that a person from Nigeria would return such a huge amount of money. He asked me repeatedly the country I am from. We were speaking through video calls.”
“All that one needs is only one rich man,” Obinali said when asked if that was his victim. When it comes to internet fraud, you don’t need a lot of people. So there was my unfortunate victim.
“I didn’t regret returning the money. In fact, I am happy to have returned the money because the same man has today impacted into my life in so many ways.”
The regretful young guy is advising teenagers and those involved in cyber fraud to stop committing such crimes. He warned that if they are apprehended, picking up the pieces could be a difficult task.
The Caucasian man, according to Obinali, had kidney problems and was constantly in and out of the hospital. He said that his illness had progressed to the point where he was unable to drive his car. His mobility was aided by the use of a walker.
He described how he was able to link Winson with Pastor Lazarus Mouka, the founder of Lord Chosen, who prayed for him. He said that the man’s health had greatly improved, and that he could now drive and walk without assistance.
He added: “The white man has given them (The Lord Chosen) a place in California Concord where they will be worshipping God.”
Liberty Areghan, a church pastor in the United States, corroborated the account. He claims to be from Maryland, but Winson hails from Oakland, California. He claimed that when the church leaders contacted him from Nigeria, he went to see the white man who had been cheated.
He backed up Obinali’s claim that the money had been restored to the rightful owner. He expressed his interest in learning more about the young man.
As a result, Areghan urged the Nigerian government and others to continue to support Bible-believing churches, especially those where the unadulterated truth is proclaimed without regard for whose ox gets gored. He shared his view that only God’s word has the power to transform even the most hardened internet fraudsters into good people.
