By Alieu Jallow
In a deeply moving demonstration of unyielding strength, Isha Dagen Tambadou, a resilient mother raising six children, three of whom she has adopted, and a former business owner, is currently facing one of the most traumatising challenges of her life. She is grappling to piece her life back together after her business was brought to ruin by a devasting collapse caused by an alleged Gambian scammer.
Once a flourishing entrepreneur at the helm of a successful restaurant and an online furniture business, Dagen Tambadou watched as her aspirations crumbled when her business fell prey to an intricate fraudulent plot. This scam not only left her stunned and financially drained but also struggling to provide for herself and her children.
“Honestly, it’s really not easy having 6 children, with three adopted orphans, who are all looking up to me as their mother. At this moment, I don’t do anything but sit at home, and I have 6 kids to take care of,” Tambadou said.
“It’s really, really hard on me. It’s really hard owning big businesses and now going zero because of a scam that someone did to you. I have serious migraine, and if I tell you, I had to cut my hair bald to reduce the stress on me. Imagine losing your business, your money, trust from customers, having another type of sickness because of the stress and trauma; wallahi it’s not easy,” she added.
Amidst the chaos and deep despair, the tenacious mother cited how the unfortunate incident is taking stall on her physiological being and similarly battling with the police following some of her trusted customers lodging complaints against her seeking their monies due to failure to deliver their demanded goods.
Amid the chaos and profound despair, the resilient mother described how the unfortunate incident has taken a toll on her psychological well-being, and concurrently, she is dealing with the police due to several of her trusted customers filing complaints against her, demanding refunds for undelivered goods.
“This moment is so traumatizing because some customers reported me to the police that they need their money, and God knows, at this moment, it’s hard on me.”
Isha Tambadou claims she handed over a whopping D1.5 million to a Gambian in Turkey for the purchase of goods and an additional D150,00 for the renovation of her new shop complex in anticipation of her new shipment. The 36-year-old entrepreneur, once thriving with a popular cuisine business offering home delivery and an online furniture venture, narrates her downfall in the trade because of its probability. Madam Tambadou states that the ordeal has impacted her not just psychologically but also her children.
“My kids get traumatized because even if they see me lying alone on my bed, they will ask me if it’s my headache again. Wallahi, if I even give them juice or biscuit, they will pray for me to recover my money from my scammer.
“All my children know him and what he did to me. They always ask me when he will pay me my money. The worst is it has made me struggle a lot with my kids because I can’t do anything for them at this moment because of my situation,” she said.
Tambadou is now pursuing legal redress.
