REFUSE TO PAY THE PRICE OF SECRET GUILT!

REFUSE TO PAY THE PRICE OF SECRET GUILT! By  FELIX N.JARIKRE

BASIC SCRIPTURES: PROV.28:13, 2 SAM.11: 1-27.

For long, a syndicate of fraudsters, by impersonating as women on a dating site called Badoo, had operated with impunity to defraud men looking for casual, anonymous sex. The playbook of this evil syndicate rested on an ancient, but simple maxim: The Guilty Are Afraid!  Seeking to protect their image, and escape retribution – uncertain of the gravity – the guilty  would go to any extreme to cover up any deed perpetrated by them which they term as shameful. The modus operandi of the criminals was to browse through the internet ,searching for pictures of pretty girls,  with exposed breasts almost falling out of their dress, from which they selected to use as one of their own. Armed with a Techno phone that had a device which could be activated to make a male voice sound like that of a seductive woman, they were in business. Once a man who appeared to be rich and responsible was attracted to start chatting with one of them, they would agree to meet at a designated estate, taking their prey through a deserted route in the Nigerian city of Port-Harcourt. Then posing as policemen, some of their partners-in-crime would apprehend the clueless victim, questioning what he was doing at such a desolate spot. The prey was tied to a tree, forced to part with his ATM card and PIN, which these fraudsters  would use to raid the man’s account, withdrawing N100,000. (one hundred thousand naira) at a time, until the account was depleted. This dastardly scam went on unreported and  undetected for a long time, with many randy but unsuspecting men falling victims. In his statement to the police, the leader of the gang said: ‘ We know that such crime might not be reported because the man will not tell his family or the police why he was robbed to protect his image.’  If anyone of the victims had looked beyond his wounded ego and humiliation at being played for a fool, seized the courage to confess his failed escapade to his wife, or someone who could empathize, the police would have been unleashed earlier on the trail of the criminals to prevent greater damage. Potential victims would have been alerted and warned if someone who was earlier victimized by the scam had discounted the fear of his image being ridiculed. George Sewell said: ‘ Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.’  But following the same pattern gone awry, it took the  deaths of two men in the same month for the hand of the law to catch up with this evil gang.  If King David had not seen the protection of his secret guilt as a greater priority than confessing the truth that he got another man’s wife pregnant, Uriah’s pre-meditated death would not been ordered. The price of hoarding your secret guilt is tough. Refuse to pay!