The day I almost lost my land because I trusted my uncle's word

My father's younger brother, Uncle Emeka, called me in 2019. He said he wanted to use my parcel of land at Mowe as collateral for a loan. Just for six months, he said. He would handle everything, I only needed to sign one paper. I trusted him because he was family, because he helped raise me after my father died.

I signed. Six months became one year. One year became two. Then I got a letter from a bank saying the land had been sold to a third party. Uncle Emeka had taken a loan of N8 million, defaulted, and the bank had exercised its power of sale. The document I signed? It wasn't a consent letter. It was a deed of assignment. The bank's lawyer showed me in court. My signature was on every page. I almost lost everything.

I took the bank to court. It took me 18 months and over N1.2 million in legal fees to get my land back. The judge ruled that the bank had failed in its duty of care because they didn't verify that Uncle Emeka had my proper power of attorney. But I learned something painful. Blood doesn't make a contract valid. Next time, I will read every line before I sign. And I will have my own lawyer look at it first. Trust is good, but the law is better.