A 37-year-old trader, Elijah Kingsley, residing at 4, Fadayomi Street, Ojota, was on Wednesday charged before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State for hypnotizing a woman and dispossessing her of N700, 000.
Kingsley is said to be facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining by false pretenses and stealing.
The Prosecutor, Sgt Lucky Ihiehie, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime in November 2014 at Ojota Bus Stop.
According to him, the complainant, one Emmanuel Beauty, a student, had on October 19, come to the Ojota Police Station to report the matter, stressing that sometime last year along Ogudu Road, she met the accused with another man who claimed to be a foreigner.
Quoting the complainant, the prosecutor said: “The foreigner told me he had goods like laptops and phones for sale and that he needed chemicals to wash some dirty monies.
“I entered into conversation with the fraudsters as they tried to convince me to provide money.
“At that point, I became unconscious of what happened to me afterwards,” Beauty added.
Speaking further, Ihiehie said Beauty gave them N27, 000 on the spot and from there they started collecting more sums of money from her.
The fraudsters, he said, later told her on phone that they were washing a large amount of money and that she needed to give them an additional N500, 000 to buy more chemicals to complete the exercise.
“They also warned her that if she revealed this secret to anyone, she would vomit blood and die. The accused kept on mounting pressures on her until she paid the money,” the prosecutor added.
Ihiehie said the accused also introduced an alleged fake pastor to the complainant who told her that she was possessed by an evil spirit that would kill her unless she had an amorous relationship with the accused.
The prosecutor told the court that the complainant said the ‘pastor’ insisted that she slept with the accused without protection so that his semen would cleanse her of the evil.
He said that the accused regularly had carnal knowledge of Emmanuel and further collected N200, 000 from her, noting that after several months, the accused called the complainant on October 19, to demand more money again.
Ihehie said Beauty reported the matter at the police station and the accused was, thereafter, arrested.
The prosecutor, again, further quoted the complainant as saying that she knew something was wrong with her while acting on the instructions of the fraudsters.
“She said that she was too weak to understand anything until she got help from a friend,” Ihiehie said.
Ihehie noted the offences contravened Sections 409, 312 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Meanwhile, the accused pleaded not guilty.
The court Magistrate, Mrs. Sule Amzat granted bail to the accused in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum.
Amzat adjourned the matter to November 16, stressing that the sureties must be gainfully employed with proofs and the court prosecution must verify their addresses.
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