Victoria Mbachu, a young Anambra orphan, shared a harrowing tale of betrayal and financial loss in the Nnobi Chief Magistrate Court on Friday. Mbachu revealed how her boyfriend, Mr. Olufemi Salako, squandered her hard-earned N10 million, which she received from the sale of family land in Nnobi.
Mbachu had sold the land to Mr. Bonaventure Ezekwenna, a Nigerian living in the United States. However, her live-in boyfriend, Salako, convinced her to flee to Ogun State to avoid Ezekwenna’s claim to the land. Currently incarcerated at the Onitsha Correctional Center, Salako stands accused of colluding with a native doctor, Mr. Chijioke Okaa, in coercing Mbachu into signing an agreement falsely stating that she sold the land to Okaa, thus complicating the land transaction.
During cross-examination by Salako’s counsel, Mr. Tochukwu Arugbuonye, Mbachu recounted her ordeal, explaining that as soon as they arrived in Ogun State, Salako withdrew the entire N10 million and claimed to have purchased a house worth N2.8 million for her. Shockingly, the uncompleted bungalow was registered in Salako’s name, and he subsequently drained the remaining N7.2 million.
Mbachu disclosed that it was Salako who proposed fleeing Nnobi to his home country, Benin Republic, to evade detection by Ezekwenna, the land buyer.
She said, “I am the sole child of my parents and have been living in my father’s house since his passing. My father constructed one small house, while I built the other structure in our compound. I have known Salako since 2018, and we were engaged. We have two daughters together.”
Mbachu explained, “I sold a portion of land behind our house to Okaa, who was introduced by Salako. He paid two million naira for it, and we had a valid agreement in place. The trouble arose concerning the main compound, which belonged to my grandfather. The individual to whom I sold this land is Bonaventure Ezekwenna.”
She continued, “I met Okaa through Salako, who introduced him to me for the smaller land sale. However, when Salako informed me that Okaa wanted to buy the entire compound and promised to build a house for me, I agreed. Unfortunately, Okaa did not fulfill his promise. Okaa and Salako conspired to coerce me into signing an agreement with them. I have no knowledge of how Salako used the money received from Bonaventure, except for the N2.8 million, which he claimed to have spent on an incomplete house. The rest of the money has vanished. Salako was the one who initially introduced Okaa to me.”
The case has been adjourned to October 13 for further proceedings.
