The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other federal agencies, raided the premises of an illegally operated Chinese-owned online money lender on Opebi Road in Lagos over the weekend.

Babatunde Irukera, the FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman who oversaw the enforcement exercise, condemned the exploitation of Nigerians by unlicensed online money lenders in the country, noting that the majority of them are not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and lack the necessary licenses to conduct business.

According to him, the activities of the company were against the rights of Nigerian consumers.

Irukera said many of the online money lenders came into existence during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

He stated: “This investigation started a long time ago. Sometime during the pandemic, when the country was on lockdown in 2020, we started seeing a rise in online money lenders.

“Because people were on lockdown due to the pandemic, people started needing small easy loans, which is understandable.However, over a period of time, people started complaining about the malpractice of the lenders. So, we started tracking it”.

He stated that after amassing a large amount of information, the commission began collaborating with many other major organizations to investigate the lending businesses’ practices in late 2021.

According to him, the institutions, which include the EFCC, ICPC, National Human Rights Commission, CBN, and NCC, have agreed to work together to examine the operations of money lenders.

“The key two things that were subjects of concern were what seems to be naming and shaming, violation of people’s privacy with respect to how these lenders recover the loans.

“Secondly, the interest rate seems to be a violation of the ethics on how lending is done. So, those were the two things that we set out to look for.

“We started an investigation trying to determine the location of these people and that has been a very difficult thing.

“We did that for several months and so one of them has moved from one place to the other and we have been visiting this place for months,” he stated.

According to him, the majority of organizations did not have physical addresses; all they had was an App, which prompted the commission to gather and engage victims for additional information.

The seized company, Soko Lending Company, employs over 2,000 people and operates multiple loan apps, including Soko Loan, Fast Money, Go Cash, Okash, Kash Kash, Speedy Choice, and Easy Moni.

For example, a worker at one of the raided centers said to the team: “The way the App is programmed, once it is downloaded, the client’s address book (contacts) is automatically transferred.”

According to information gathered, workers earn between N28,000 and N56,000 each month, depending on their schedule.

The FCCPC’s executive director stated that the commission obtained a court warrant, paving the way for an investigation that could result in a search and seizure.

“Sometime last month, a court issued a warrant, and between then and now, we were preparing a sting operation which is what you are seeing here today.

“This is because we want to be sure we are hitting at the place we could get many of them,” he said.

In addition to the sting operation, Irukera stated that the FCCPC issued other orders.

He added that merchants, App Stores, and Google Play Stores where some of the apps were available would be shut down to ensure that victims were no longer at risk.

The FCCPC’s executive director stated that the commission has attempted to freeze some of the accounts used by the management of online money lenders.

“I must add that though not all money lenders are operating illegally, and that is why it has been taking time for us to track these people, it doesn’t mean that the people we are proceeding against today are the only ones.

“No, we want to start with them. We also understand that they are between five to seven companies operating at the same location,” Irukera stated.

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