UB narrates have this to say:
Around 2010, an impassioned Marksman walked into a construction site in Odenigbo, Nsukka, seeking to join volunteers at work. “He had zero knowledge of the job,” says UB*, the construction worker who received him at the site. Called JW Construction Group, the workers were members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, unpaid devotees building Kingdom Halls for the faith. UB says Chinedu wanted to study civil engineering at university but needed the practical experience.
By any means, the Redking, according to UB, was determined to change his family’s story. Working for free, for experience was an intentional strategy for an ambitious youth seeking to build a future, brick by brick, in construction. UB acknowledges Chinedu’s brilliance, even if he considers it “intelligent crookery.”
“But overtime, it became obvious he also wanted connect too, to scam, as always,” UB tells the magazine, adding that weeks later, Chinedu’s “dubious character on site earned him the nickname Mark 4”—a name derived from an unscrupulous fellow in a popular Nollywood movie.
“He claimed his sister had sickle-cell anemia,” UB continues, “hoping to get help from Witnesses. We were already raising money for him, but someone had to investigate…He is still owing many Witnesses till date, people that had business dealings with him.”
To verify UB’s claim, Nigeria Abroad reaches out to the JW member who investigated Chinedu’s story about a sick sister.“We met around 2010 during one of our (church) meetings. I got attracted to him because he made a very interesting comment. In subsequent meetings, he made excellent remarks. After one of those meetings, he approached me and that was how we became friends,” says the young man, who also requested anonymity citing personal reasons.
“In weeks, I invited him to my village and introduced him as a brother from Port Harcourt to my parents. He ate my mother’s food; we were that close. He said he was studying engineering at UNEC, and that he was into computer programming. He was always holding seminars about web design and so on.
“But then he was always complaining of money, so I started helping him out. He’d promise that money was coming, but none at hand. Sometimes he’d take a phone call mentioning large sums of money and promise to pay me back soon.
“Later, he said his sister had sickle-cell and needed money for surgery. As a notable person in the congregation, I took his case to our church leaders, and we started working to raise money for him.”
When a JW member moves into a new location, the previous branch sends the person’s records to the new congregation. Some church elders at Ogwui New Layout, Enugu, according to this source, urged patience on the charity, pending reception of Chinedu’s records from his Port Harcourt branch. This caused a delay in the intervention, and Chinedu “became angry” and would not honor the invitation of the elders who wanted to ask him a few questions.
“It was after then that I called his father; he’d earlier given me his number. It was Chinedu’s mother that picked up. Immediately she said her daughter was not sick, I ended the call. When I called Marksman for all the money I gave him, he said it was charity. That I didn’t say it was loan. And truly he never said, ‘loan me money.’ He would only ask for money and if I gave him, he’d say he’d pay back from the money he was expecting.”
“It was after then that I called his father; he’d earlier given me his number. It was Chinedu’s mother that picked up. Immediately she said her daughter was not sick, I ended the call. When I called Marksman for all the money I gave him, he said it was charity. That I didn’t say it was loan. And truly he never said, ‘loan me money.’ He would only ask for money and if I gave him, he’d say he’d pay back from the money he was expecting.”
Leaving JW, a modest if self-effacing Christian denomination, must have given the Redking wings to fly. Between 2013 and 2016, he started running his own construction company in Enugu. “He was living in Ibagwanike in Nsukka, at the back of a JW hall…and was already forming engineer,” states UB, who insists the father of two has no university degree, since, in 2010, the man was still a site worker hoping to enter university.
source: Nigeriabroad.com
