Concerns as ‘loan sharks’ re-emerge

Resort to blackmail, intimidation for loan recoveries

We’ll go after them, FCCPC assures, says Nigerians should stop patronising them

There are fresh concerns among Nigerians on the resurgence of illegal loan app operators, popularly known as loan sharks, after the clampdown on their activities by the Federal Government a few years ago.

More worrisome, especially in government circles, is the continued patronage of such loan sharks by Nigerians, despite the availability of officially approved ones by the government.

Checks by Nigerian Tribune revealed a long list of these operators who, despite not being on Google, continue to command a huge number of customers.

Nigerian Tribune further learnt that while the loan operators are much more discreet in their activities this time around to avoid being caught by the prying eyes of the law, they are nevertheless exploitative, ruthless, and unethical in their payment recovery processes.

A loanee, who would not want his name in print, was full of regrets for taking some facilities from a loan shark while narrating his ordeal to our correspondent.

According to him, he had sought the “assistance” of the loan company, having found himself in some financial stress.

“I was desperately in need of some cash a few months ago, when I wanted to raise some money to pay my children’s school fees, after every avenue at sourcing it from friends and families failed. Interestingly, Apex was very much available, and I applied and was given,” he narrated.

But to his surprise, before the due date, he had already started receiving calls from his creditor, asking him to pay back quickly or face the music.

“The usual friendly mannerisms of the creditor had suddenly disappeared, now replaced by very abusive, rude, and threatening language,” he said.

On the day of repayment, they carried out their threat of contacting some of his friends, accusing him of being wanted for fraud. His picture and that of his son, which was on his DP, were circulated.

“Besides being ‘declared wanted’ for ‘international fraud’, my BVN was all over the place. It was being sent to my contacts, especially the strategic ones. It was quite shocking,” he stated.

Another of such loanees, Kunle, stated that the conduct of the loan operators made him lose the project he was about to secure from a client.

“The contractor, who was to give me another facility to enable me to offset the loan, was contacted, and he changed his mind. It was cancelled,” he stated.

Mrs Oluseyi (real names withheld) said one of her domestic staff committed suicide after he couldn’t pay back the money.

“Nobody knew he took such a loan until he had committed suicide. We learnt he was threatened and made to pass through trauma until it became unbearable for him,” she explained.

Curiously, a lot of Nigerians seem to be going through this in silence.

A peep into the activities of these loan sharks revealed a covert type of operation on their part. Unlike in the past, they are now, most times, off the radar of the authorities because most of them are not on Play Store, where they could be tracked, but they have a way of contacting their clients, especially through links.

Nigerian Tribune discovered that one of their most potent tools at attracting clients is the almost no-collateral-needed arrangement, though the interests their clients are made to pay are outrageous — most times in the region of 40 percent.

Speaking on the new development, the Head of Corporate Affairs at the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC), Ondaje Ojagwu, expressed dismay that Nigerians still patronise such illegal loan apps after the commission had reined them in a few years ago.

According to him, there is a list of about 300 registered loan apps the Commission approved and published on its platforms.

“It’s sad Nigerians still fall prey to these illegal loan app operators. I’m sure none of those approved by us would resort to threats and intimidation in recovering their loans because they are no longer faceless. We insisted, in July this year, that they should disclose their directors before they could be registered,” he added.

He, however, assured that the agency would escalate its enlightenment campaign with the aim of letting the public understand the need to patronise those registered by the commission.

The FCCPC’s spokesman appealed to Nigerians to always report the activities of such illegal operators to the commission for necessary action.