HOW FAKE FOREX PLATFORM LANDED ME IN PRISON: A 27-YEAR-OLD STUDENT RECOUNTS.

A 27-year-old Nigerian man named John Akpan Ode, a resident of Ogoja in the state of Cross River, met a terrible end. John moved to Lagos after completing his secondary education in search of a better life because his impoverished parents could not support his desire for higher education. Within a few years, John became an expert in tile repair, roofing, and forex trading. He used the money he made from these side businesses to pay his way through the Lagos State Polytechnic.

Up until he stumbled upon a bogus forex site, John was doing well for himself and anticipated a bright future. He started seeing strong returns on his investment and encouraged others to join. Instead of being a victim when the platform crashed a few months later and John lost all of his investment, he was the main suspect. In this episode, John tells Encounter about his months-long incarceration in Kirikiri due to a purported N6 million currency fraud that he had no knowledge of.

BACKGROUND

I go by the name Akpan John Ode. I'm from Cross River State's Yala Local Government Area. In Yala Local Government Area, I went to Obachime Community Primary School and St. Francis Meridian College.

I am from a multi-married household. My mother is the fourth and final woman that my father had. Taking care of his 19 children was a significant challenge for my father. Only a few of my siblings went to primary school, and we frequently quarreled within the family. As soon as I was able to complete secondary school and receive my West African Examination Council, WAEC Certificate in 2015, I made the decision to move to Lagos and start making a difference in the world. I stayed with a single villager and learned how to repair roofs and tiles. I was also assisting the business with product marketing. I enrolled in Lagos State using the meager earnings from the company.

SIDE BUSINESS

I learned about forex trading from a friend while I was preparing for my OND at LASPOTECH. I had some business training, and after learning the trade's secrets over time, I was able to start profiting from it. I joined a lot of platforms and had some success.

TROUBLE

Up until I started introducing others to the business, I was doing fine. The initial group of individuals I introduced on the networks I utilize fared well and profited significantly from their investments. Until I made the decision to invest in a new platform last year, I had no issues with anyone for a very long time.

My initial investment on the platform increased from $300 to approximately $5,700, and I was making $200 withdrawals every two weeks to cover my personal expenses. One day, a sister introduced me to a woman who was based in Abuja. I showed the woman the new platform I was utilizing because she expressed interest in forex. She only had $360, so I gave her an initial $300 loan to help her out. I merely offered to help, but she was trading on her own. Over time, the woman made $5,000, but instead of withdrawing it, she opted to reinvest it. One day the site froze and we were unable to trade once more, shocking us all. It wasn't until much later that we realized we had been scammed.

The woman phoned me and requested that I return her $5,000, but I told her that I, too, am a victim and that I cannot do that. She caused a lot of trouble up until she stopped communicating with me.

ARREST

Up until July, when I traveled back to my village to see my parents, I had forgotten everything. I attempted to do other things to survive because my tile and roofing work was not arriving on a regular basis. I received a call from an unknown individual in August who turned out to be a police officer. They had already detained one of my brothers and his wife when I received the call.

In Lekki, they also detained one of my sisters, who eventually guided them to my home. When they took me to their office in Ikeja, the police officers started to question me differently than they had when they had initially claimed that my detention was related to a phone.

FALSE ACCUSATION

The police officials at the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja questioned me about whether I knew somebody named Ugochi. I responded that I was familiar with her and explained how I had brought her onto the FX trading site before it crashed. They insisted that I was lying and vowed to beat the living daylights out of me if I didn't stop. They presented me with a petition Ugochi had prepared, in which she claimed to have made an N6 million investment through me. I spent 11 days in a cell after arguing that I never deceived the plaintiff. Due to the seizure of my phone, my family was unaware of my location for those 11 days.

They took my statement after escorting me to the Commissioner of Police's office. I displayed to them the $360 that the complainant sent me for the investment along with my WhatsApp exchanges with her.

REASON I WAS A VICTIM

When someone has money and is aware of the business's complexities, forex is advantageous. I have utilized some excellent platforms. However, the reality is that there is no surefire technique to identify a false platform. Even if a platform is bogus, if you join it early and pay out, you will have significantly increased your investment. Unfortunately, before this particular one that put me into problems, I didn't cash out early enough. I started that business since I needed the money to pay for my studies. The temporary setback I had has, in my opinion, made me stronger.