A couple of nights ago I noticed my mobile phone had lost its network signal, so I couldn't make or receive calls with it. This was rare but not unusual, and usually solved after switching the phone off and on after a period of time, or sometimes resolved all by itself. I let it be. The night prior to that i had received a few prank calls/flashes which, for some reason (probably the quick succession of the calls), I felt were coming from a group of young people somewhere, but since I was house-hunting and had given out my phone number to a few estate agents by this time, I took this as part of the ‘collateral damage’ that comes with searching for a place in Lagos.

The following day I noticed the signal had remained off all morning which was strange given the length of time. I switched it off then on after a good period of time to no effect. I had a property to visit, so left the office around 11:30 to do so during my lunch break. The phone was still without network signal. I decided to use my work mobile phone to call my personal mobile phone to see if it would have any effect. The call went through – but the phone in my hand was not ringing!! Someone picked the call, answered, then cut the call. I thought to myself “crossed call”? It sometimes happens. I caught a taxi to the property. A few minutes later, I called my number again, someone picked the call. This time I impersonated a friend and pretended to be asking for myself – the person then pretended to be me, and promised to call me back in a few minutes! And all this time the mobile phone in my other hand was still without network coverage. All alarm bells were now ringing.

I was going to call the phone network service center, but I thought about impersonation / identity theft, and why would anyone want to do that? I decided to call my account officer at the bank just in case. I asked her if anyone was trying to confirm a cheque. The lady started literally wailing. Apparently she'd just finished 10 minutes earlier, confirming a cheque of over 1.6 million presented in Abuja (irregular signature) to some “Engineer”. (I didn't recognise the name. That would have put paid to rent payment etc.) She said she'd called my number and I (I??) had confirmed the cheque. I calmed her down and asked her to call the Abuja branch in case the person was still within the premises. She did so, and as she did, I prayed to God that no devourer should eat my bread. She called back within minutes praising God. Apparently the person who dropped the cheque became jittery after dropping the cheque with the cashier, and had left the counter. I praised God for His deliverance! A few minutes later she called again to say the man in question had returned to pick up the money and was detained! I later discovered that 3 cheque leaves had been torn from my cheque book (usually locked in my office). I hope investigations in “Sokoto” will get to the culprit behind the culprit in “Shokoto”.

I, and my household, praise God who surrounds His people as mountains, the great Shepherd who will not let His flock be devoured by wolves, my Shield and Buckler. It is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit that prompted me to call in the sequence and at the time that I did. If I had called the bank 5 minutes later it would have been too late.