Dear Diary, My Most Expensive Phone Was Stolen In Lagos!

25.2.20

Dear Diary, My Most Expensive Phone Was Stolen In Lagos!

I didn't want to share this post with you because it is a very painful one. Then again, I said to myself, "you are supposed to be promoting authenticity."

I Want It Back

You know that feeling you get when something breezes past you like the wind, that was how I felt at the point when it happened.

The first thing I did was to reach out for the phone in my bag. I had a panic attack when I couldn't touch anything that feels like a phone.

I poured out my bag's content to be doubly sure I wasn't being paranoid. But it wasn't there!

"Ye! My phone! My phone!"

"What happened?" People around were asking.

"My phone! Somebody stole my phone! It was in my bag!"

Looking for the phone proved fruitless.

I wanted to go back in time. I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. I was in shock. I was confused.

I didn’t even respond to other customers asking me what happened, those sharing similar experiences, all I could think of was; "this is not happening."
"God, no."

My phone has been stolen in Lagos before, but it wasn't as painful as this.

What's most painful about this particular experience is that my phone is a 2-week old Samsung Galaxy S10e Prism White. It's a gift from Kachi. He got it for me when my old phone started acting up and couldn't do the things I needed to get done properly.

My phone is my mobile office. I practically do most of my businesses there. And Kachi saw the need for me to upgrade.

I was feeling concern, to a point of being afraid, about how he was going to take it.

I asked someone close by to lend me a phone, "Please, may I use your phone to call my husband?"

"Oh, sure. Why not."

I dialed his number. It rang twice. He picked up on the third. And by this time, my eyes were already flooded with tears. I was sobbing.

"Hello. Who is this?"
"Babe. . .it's me."
"Hey babe. Why are you calling with a strange number? Who owns. . ."
"Babe. . .they stole my phone."

I was crying over the phone. All through the conversation.

"Are you joking?"
"No! They took it from my bag!"
"Stop playing. Where are you?"
"I'm in the market. I was just checking out a few things in this store. And then I dropped my bag . . .someone took it from my bag. "

He was quiet.

Those around were narrating how their phones were stolen too. He could hear them. And at that point, he figured I wasn't playing a prank.

He was still quiet.

"Babe. Are you there?"
"Yes, I can hear what they are saying."
"I am so sorry. I have been very careful with it. I only dropped my bag for just a second. And the person took it. I don't know how it happened. It was just a second. I knew it immediately the phone was gone!"

He paused again. He didn't say anything for the next few seconds.

"I'm so sorry." I sobbed some more.

He said nothing. My heart was beating really fast.

"Why are you not saying anything? Please talk to me". I swallowed saliva. "What do you think I should do now? What are we going to do?"

"Go home."
"Huh?"
"There is nothing we can do about it. Just go home. Stop crying. Go home."

I returned the borrowed phone. Heartily thanked the owner. And went home.

I'm still in awe at how Kachi handled it. He gave me a long tight hug and whispered in my ears, "I hate to see you cry."

Awwwwwwww!

To cut the long story short, the Find My Phone tracking option didn’t work, since my phone wasn’t connected to the internet at the time of disappearing.

We had to go to the police. I mean, that phone is over N200,000 (Two hundred thousand Naira). Brand new. We just can't let it go without a fight. We are not close to the Dangote class yet.

So we went to the station and reported the case. They gave us a form and told us to put it in writing. We did.

We wrote down everything about the phone. The receipt number, IMIE number and the SIM registered on the phone.

Then they asked us to pay "something" for a case-file to be opened for us.

We hesitated. You know how it is.

But they told us that it would help facilitate the case.

We obliged.

It's been two weeks after the incident, we are waiting and hoping to be told that the phone has been found.

I really don't care about the thief. I just want my phone back. It is the most expensive phone I have ever used in my life.

* * * * * *

Let me know in the comment box if you have had any similar experience.

P.s If you've been trying to reach me via phone calls or WhatsApp, please note that this is the reason for my unavailability at the moment. Send me an e-mail or direct message on Twitter.