It has been almost two years since Ikechukwu Anozie, a Nigerian who resides in the United States, collected over N5 million from Obi Uchendu, his friend. He has neither refunded the money nor purchased the car Uchendu wanted.

Uchendu told FIJ that he had been friends with Ikechukwu since 2007. He added that Ikechukwu reached out to him in November 2022 to ask for a loan, a request he honoured. Uchendu said he borrowed Ikechukwu N4 million and he promised to refund it when he came to Nigeria for Christmas that year.

He said that during Black Friday that same year, he reached out to Ikechukwu to get some items for his children from the money he had borrowed him, so he could bring them and the rest of the money with him when coming to Nigeria in December.

Later, Ikechukwu informed Uchendu that he would not be making the journey down to Nigeria anymore. “He told me he was not going to come for Christmas and he would send my money through any of his friends that would be coming back,” said Uchendu.

Uchendu then decided to use the money that was with Ikechukwu to purchase a car since his friend runs a car auction business. He added that Ikechukwu told him the money he lent was not enough to purchase the car and he sent the balance.

“He sent me photos of a 2013 Toyota RAV4 and told me he was bidding for it and it was available. I asked him to complete the transaction since I had some money with him. He said he didn’t have enough to cover the transaction. I sent him the naira equivalent of $3200,” said Uchendu.

In January 2023, Uchendu reached out to Ikechukwu to ask him when the car would be arriving in Nigeria, and the latter told him the ship that was supposed to bring the car to Nigeria had not sailed because many people were not shipping goods to Nigeria at the time over elections.

Uchendu reached out in the following months, but Ikechukwu kept repeating the same excuses. It has been almost a year since then, and Ikechukwu has not sent Uchendu’s car to Nigeria nor has he provided a refund.

“He kept saying he would send it the following month. He kept saying the car would come in,” said Uchendu.

He also told FIJ that he reached out to Ikechukwu’s wife, who told him that her husband was experiencing some financial issues and she should give him more time.

Uchendu said he contacted Ikechukwu to tell him he would give him a year to sort it out. The last few times he reached out to Ikechukwu to ask when he would be getting a refund or getting the car he claimed to have purchased, the latter told him to take whatever actions he deemed fit.

“He said I should do whatever I wanted to do if I could not wait,” Uchendu told FIJ.

FIJ contacted Ikechukwu on WhatsApp for comments, but he did not respond to calls or the texts sent.