"Inua Ellams was walking through the streets of Lagos, the bustling former capital of Nigeria, when he began noticing a recurring phrase, spray-painted on to the sides of homes. This house is not for sale, it read. Beware of 419. The number refers to section four, chapter 19 of the Nigerian criminal code, which specifically deals with fraud obtaining goods or property by false pretences"
"Now the criminal code reference has become a catch-all term for Nigerian cons and illicit financial activity. The most famous form 419 takes in the west is the internet con, also known as the Spanish Prisoner, where the target (or mark) is offered a sizable cut from a sum of money that needs to be transferred out of the country, often by someone claiming to be working for a bank or a powerful figure (posing as the brother of the Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha was a popular tactic in the 00s)."
Spray-painted warnings such as “This house is not for sale. Beware of 419” mark efforts to deter conmen exploiting empty properties. Section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code targets fraud by false pretences, and the number has evolved into a general label for cons and illicit financial activity. In the West, 419 is often associated with internet scams like the Spanish Prisoner, while in Nigeria it denotes everything from petty deception to large-scale embezzlement. A creative project titled The 419 pairs photographic portraits by Oluwamuyiwa Logor Logo with sonnets to trace how 419 culture lubricates localised capitalism in Lagos.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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