“My husband died after borrowing N500,000 from microfinance bank, now they are after my life” – Widow Lament

Mrs. Elebeke Chisom, a widow and mother of four, made an impassioned appeal to the good people of Nigeria on Friday after her husband, Samuel Elebeke, passed away while seeking for a loan of N500,000 from a microfinance bank to develop his spare parts company.

According to Vanguard, she claims the microfinance bank is threatening and harassing her because they foreclosed on her husband’s store and stole all of the items without waiting for her to settle the debt after his death.

Elebeke described her dilemma, saying that she had lost her husband and was now being threatened by the Imo State microfinance bank, which had left her unable to meet the most basic needs of her children.

She said, “Hello Nigerians, please come to the rescue of me and my children. I was born and raised in Umuopia Akokwa, Ideato North Local Government Area, Imo State, and my name is Elebeke Chisom. My family and I am in dire straits because my spouse took out a microloan right before he unexpectedly became ill and passed away.

He needed the extra cash to expand his firm and buy more equipment, so he approached them about a loan of N500,000. Less than a week after acquiring the goods, he suffered a stroke (paralysis), which ultimately led to his death. Two weeks after his passing, the bank came and closed the shop, and three days after his funeral, they came to me demanding payment.

They refused and packed up the store a week before my husband’s burial so that it could be torn down and the contents destroyed. My spouse owns a business that sells auto components and motor oil.

They had already made off with millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and cash before I even realised what had happened. The nearest police station was in the Akokwa division, so that’s where I went to file a report.

I decided to put off dealing with the bank until after my husband’s funeral, which was next week. In spite of police efforts, no representatives from the bank showed up.

The bank sent Owerri State CID officers to my spouse’s funeral on July 6, 2023, and I was detained that day. In Owerri, they attacked me and my family after kidnapping me and making up a story about what transpired in the business. It gives me great peace of mind to have video evidence of the shoplifters in action.

Since my husband’s passing, I have been harassed by banks and have been unable to provide basic necessities such as food and school tuition for my children. Please, Nigeria, deliver me from this microlending company. Please treat me fairly.

Vanguard discovered that the widow’s late husband had used the loan to buy property two weeks and three days before to his death.

During the family meeting, “other financial institutions he owed like FINCA and LAPO came and wrote off the loan,” a close friend of the deceased man’s family said, while the microfinance bank proceeded to the store and locked it with different keys.

The family requested that they hold off on discussing the repayment of the €500,000 loan until after the funeral. They took three moving vans to Samuel Elebeke’s shop a few days later, while he was still in the mortuary, and unloaded everything there.

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