Midas International, Demola Oreagba, Midas Shipping, Midas Movers THEFT OF ALL OF OUR PERSONAL EFFECTS, WORST OWNER/BUSINESS EVER, PATRONIZE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

In June of 2008, I accepted a job offer in Nigeria, after 29 years of living in the U.S., and needed to relocate the family there, from Maryland.  We, unwittingly, engaged the services of Mr. Demola Oreagba and his company, at that time known as Midas Shipping, but now called Midas International.

Our selection of Midas Shipping/International for our shipping was due to the urgency  to relocate quickly, the busy nature of shipping in that perticular period. Mr. Oreagbas affirmation that he had handled similar shipping jobs (in response to all of our queries based on our feelings fo unease) previously.

We paid Mr. Oreagba and Midas Shipping/International $18,000 (and another $1800 for packing and handling) for three (3) 40-foot shipping containers with an agreement on a designated day for the packing to start and the need for no delays in having our personal effects packed up and moved for shipping (as our flight out of the country was scheduled for departure after the completion of the packing up of our stuff). Packing up and moving of our personal effects to the shipping point was to take no later than two (2) days.

On the morning of the day designated for the move to start, Midas Shipping/Internationl personnel did not show up at the house.  I spent all morning, frantically calling Mr. Oreagba trying to figure out why his movers were not at the house.  Finally, in the late afternoon, three of his movers showed up with a truck and the worst professional attitude we'd have ever seen.

Rather than methodically pack our stuff, they proceeded to throw things into the packing boxes carelessly, all the while complaining about the work.  My wife had to step in (I was out trying to take care of other stuff), caution them and call Mr. Oreagba to complain.  The movers were at the house for barely three hours and made just one trip, before they informed my wife that they would have to come back the next day.

The next day, once again, no movers showed up.  After frantic calls to Mr. Oreagba, he showed up with his wife and a reduced but different set of movers (who we were told were temporary workers that were called to work for the day and not his regular employees).  This same drama continued for the next three days (remember that the packing and moving was supposed to only take two days), completing disorganizing our travel plans.

As a result, instead of traveling with the family to our holiday destination, enroute to Nigeria. I had to stay behind and, at great expense, re-schedule my travel.  

Instead of using a storage warehouse with the requisite security arrangements, which is standard and prudent practice, Midas was moving our personal effects from the house and loading them into a 40-foot container (one of the 3 that we'd paid for) which was placed on a flat bed trailer, in front of its offices.  On the fifth day of the move, with great concern relative to the pace of the movers, I stopped by Midas' offices in the morning to find out when the move would be completed. As I could not afford to re-schedule my travel again, given this was the peak period for summer travel.

When I requested to see Mr. Oreagba, I was informed that he was not available and that, unfortunately, they had some bad news for me.  I was then informed that the container, with ninety (90) percent of all of our personal effects in this world, had been stolen in the middle of the night.

So, my family relocated half-way across the world, to start a new life, with nothing but the clothing that was packed in the suitcases that we traveled with.  Now, you would think that Mr. Oreagba would be at his most apologetic, supportive or compassionate, relative to our loss.

Not so.  Mr. Oreagba never once called to check on how we were doing (during this time he'd made several visits to Nigeria too), offer any form of interim financial support or even solutions as to how we could deal with our starting life in a new country with no clothing, furniture or cherished sentimental items.  To make matters worse, Mr. Oreagba's business was not insured.

Given that we still had ten (10) percent of our personal effects that had not been loaded into the stolen container, we requested that the replacement container (for the stolen one) be used to accommodate them, in addition to a vehicle that we'd left behind.  Instead of doing that, Mr. Oreagba/Midas apportioned these items across other peoples' containers, so that we lost some more of these remaining items, as he lost track of them.  In addition, our vehicle arrived in Nigeria damaged (because, it was packed with other vehicles in another container).

Half the cars, which were contained in the other two (2) containers, were significantly damaged. The airfreight shipment which we paid Midas separately for ($500), based on the need to ship delicacies and medicines for our twin girls, who were then 2-years old with major allergy issues, which should have arrived in Nigeria in no more than 5 to 10 days, did not arrive until three months after our arrival in Nigeria.

After almost a year of seeking recompense from Midas, with Mr. Oreagba showing no intention of doing so, we had no choice but to sue Mr. Oreagba.  An award was made in our favor in 2010.  To date, Mr. Oreagba and Midas have not made any payments towards the award.  Instead, he makes half-hearted and ridiculous offers through his attorney and third parties, while also claiming that he has no money.  However, I understand that for his 50th birthday, he flew friends and family to the Bahamas in celebration.

In conclusion, I have since met multiple persons with horror stories, relative to their dealings with Mr. Oreagba and Midas Shipping or Midas International.  So if you are thinking of using their services for anything, DON'T.