In late 2023, AdPaul Nowo, a farmer living in Lagos, first heard about Rolad Properties & Allied Services through a Bond FM radio advert. That advert later led to an investment that has given Nowo so much trouble.
The investment terms were simple — N10 million to get a 35% Return on Investment in one year and the company retains a 10% withholding tax on the RoI. Nowo gladly agreed to these terms.
The RoI is more than just extra money, it could be considered a source of income for someone who has lost the agility to work like one once did.
Nowo had once resided in Malaysia, where he worked on a plantation as a menial worker. When the job took its toll on his lungs, he had to fall back on farming in Nigeria.
The investment deal was not the first deal Nowo had with Rolad Properties. They are primarily a real estate company, so his first interaction with them was his land purchase deals.
“I got one acre for a farmland in December 2023 for N1.8 million. I got another one that they called ‘top ground’ for N1.8 million also,” Nowo narrated.
“Then recently, in the month of March, I got another one at Kobape, along Abeokuta-Sagamu Road. I bought another one for N3.5 million. All are farmlands.”
Nowo’s N10 million payment receipt
Olufunke Sowunmi, who advertised the investment scheme, had assured him that the deal was certain because the company had been in existence for a long time. She then introduced him to Adewale Morakinyo, the project manager.
Being a 12-month plan, the investment was supposed to mature in March 2025 since it began in April 2024, but the company argued for April 2024 to April 2025.
Nowo told FIJ that when he called Sowunmi, she asked if he wanted to take his interest or take both the interest and the principal but Nowo insisted on taking everything.
“I needed my money. My land at Kobape, everyone has started their project but I cannot do anything on it. I needed my money,” he said.
“He told me to wait, that their MD was not around. I was wondering why a big company like that had to wait for their MD to pay me my refund.”
When the refund was not forthcoming, Nowo visited the company’s office on June 5. There he met both Sowunmi and Morakinyo.
During the meeting, the two only continued to plead that he grant them an extra 20 working days to process the refund.
“They pleaded that the company had a miscalculation problem. Even in the letter they sent to me, it was there,” Nowo recounted.
“I told him (Morakinyo) to calculate the 20 working days by himself, and he arrived on July 4. He told me I would get my money on or before July 4.”
A week before July 4, Nowo again sent a reminder to Morakinyo.
On July 3, Morakinyo called to inform Nowo that they had approved the refund but they were having a banking issue, and that he should grant them an extra 3 working days.
“On the day, I called Wale (Morakinyo). He told me he was not in the office, that he was working from home. I told him that he could communicate with their office from home to give me what he promised me or ‘is this thing turning to a scam?’. He got offended and started insulting me,” Nowo told FIJ.
FIJ called Rolad Properties on Wednesday but the respondent said he would call back on Thursday to connect FIJ with the person in charge of the transaction.
Rolad Properties had not called back, and they refused to answer when FIJ called, at press time.