LOVE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE BLIND (Justice Is Served)

Last year, I told a story (HERE and HERE) about how I trusted the wrong person and paid dearly for it. The person I trusted was Taiwo Olakunle Balogun, the thieving fraud who absconded with my former colleague’s car and left me to face a life that quickly fell apart. I lost my job, was forced to come out to my older siblings, was harassed by my colleague, Bolu, to pay for his stolen car, and was facing a court battle.

At the start of 2021, the courts were on strike. However, in June, the strike was called off and just like that, my court case was back on. My lawyer had sued the police for harassment after my ex-colleague, Bolu, had used them to intimidate and detain me. Now that the courts were open, my case was assigned to a judge and the date for our first court appearance fixed for July 2021.

We showed up in court on that day. But the defendants were a no-show. Neither the police nor Bolu was there to make their defense. And so, after a few court preliminaries, the judge adjourned the case to November.

That July turned out also to be the beginning of a new turn in my life. I got a new job with a tobacco company. It was a far better employment than my last, and I was starting to become happy again.

I still had to commute to work from where I was staying in my older brother’s house in the Mainland. But that was okay. My coming out hadn’t ruined my relationship with my siblings. I mean, it wasn’t as though they were now LGBT allies or having conversations with me about my life as a homosexual. No. They simply distanced themselves from the memory of that day when I came out to them, and I carried on living my life in a way that didn’t throw my sexuality in their faces.

And then, the news started circulating on social media that Taiwo was dead. I saw posts on mutual friends’ profiles, his pictures with RIP captions. Oddly, when I saw this news, I felt sad. This was someone I’d once loved and given my everything to. And the reality that he might be no more had me feeling somewhat emotional. I did try to confirm the news, but I couldn’t reach his mother or sister. And those boys he’d told me were his brothers didn’t know much about the news either. When I reached out to friends however, that was when I started learning a different truth: that Taiwo was indeed a wicked person. Like I said in my previous story, only my two best friends knew about my relationship with Taiwo and his betrayal. When I then talked about it here on Kito Diaries, it appears the story went viral in the community, because anyone I reached out to regarding the confirmation of Taiwo’s death would something like, “I heard it on Facebook o, I’m not sure. But I hope it’s true. That guy is a bastard. Did you read the story on KD about what he did to his boyfriend? He’s a thief and a fraud, and treated someone I know that badly too.”

These people didn’t know I was the person in the story on Kito Diaries, but they were sharing stories about how Taiwo fucked over other guys before me. And I hadn’t known this because I’d of course kept my relationship with him very private. It made me wonder if I could have avoided being Taiwo’s victim, if I’d been more open about our relationship, if I’d let more people, other than my best friends, know.

My next court date was in November 2021. And once again, the police was a no-show. I was more surprised that even Bolu had disappeared entirely. With the energy he put into harassing me for the return (or repayment) of his car, I thought he’d at least be present to fight this case. But I guess his strength only lay in corrupting the police to be his henchmen.

With the defendants being absent the second time, the judge issued a court order, mandating them to show up at the next court date, which he fixed to be in February 2022.

But again, in February, they were absent. The judge had no more move left but to rule in my favour, ordering that the police pay me 1 million naira in damages, instead of the 5 million we sued for.

Of course, getting the police to make this payment would involve a very long and stressful process, I’m told. I just wasn’t ready for that battle. And so, together with my family and two besties, a decision was made to just leave it at that. Truth be told, I didn’t care about getting paid. I was just happy that I had my freedom back and that I am happy once again.

I have forgiven Taiwo and his family for their betrayal. If Taiwo is indeed dead, I hope he found peace before he left this life, and I wish his family none of the pain that they contributed to against me.

I decided not to pursue the money I was awarded by the court. All I cared for was my freedom from all that darkness, and I got it. I have a well-paying job now, and by the grace of God, everything else I lost because of Taiwo Olakunle Balogun will come back to me.

Written by Ryan