No fewer than 950 investors have reportedly lost more than $200,000 to a suspected Ponzi scheme in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The investors disclosed the incident at a press conference held in Ibadan on Wednesday, revealing that the collapse of the scheme has allegedly led to the death of two persons, while several others are currently bedridden.
Speaking on behalf of the victims, Mr Abiodun Ayobami Mustafa said they were drawn into the scheme by one Enoch Adeoye and his associates, who operated under the names Agape Trade and Agape Thrift. He stated that investors were promised attractive returns on a minimum investment of $200.
Mustafa explained that participants were recruited through street marketers, eye-catching flyers and online advertisements, and were assured that the scheme was a government-recognised investment, not a Ponzi operation.
According to him, fewer than one-tenth of the investors received returns for just two months, amounting to millions of naira, before payments stopped abruptly.
“After the initial payouts, the operational office at Ago Tapa, Mokola, was shut down, and the whereabouts of the person in charge became unknown,” he said.
He added that the development compelled the investors to submit a formal petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its Ibadan zonal office.
In the petition, the investors demanded a comprehensive investigation and the prosecution of those responsible for what they described as a criminal act.
The petition, signed by Dapo Akinosi of Swift Magnate Solicitors LP, stated that the scheme had 950 subscribers spread across Ibadan and other parts of the country. It noted that while investors received payments during the first three months, all subsequent efforts to recover their investments over the past year had failed.
The petition further urged the EFCC to exercise its constitutional mandate to investigate, apprehend and prosecute anyone found culpable, stressing that the alleged actions were illegal, unlawful and damaging to innocent Nigerians.
