News
Cash Crisis Fuels Loan App Nightmare in Nigeria
Cash-strapped and in dire need of N30,000 (about $20), Mariam Ogundairo turned to a loan app, downloading it and registering her phone number.
The money was quickly sent over but came with a 21.6 percent interest rate, due in two weeks.
Like many in Nigeria, battered by inflation, Ogundairo was too broke to pay back what she owed.
Then came a deluge of harassment — a tactic that has become the hallmark of many loan apps in Africa’s fourth-largest economy.
“They started calling my phone contacts when I couldn’t pay back on time, saying I owed them. “I lost my security, and it makes me so sad and scared,” Ogundairo told AFP.
Such loan apps in Nigeria, branded “predatory” by campaigners, are texting threats and leaking sensitive photos to their mobile phone contacts when people squeezed by the country’s ongoing economic crisis cannot pay up.
Often enticed by false promises of low interest rates, thousands of Nigerians have turned to personal finance apps seeking quick access to short-term loans as galloping prices put pressure on incomes, with inflation standing at 21.8 percent at the end of July.
Ogundairo struggled through the embarrassment for weeks until she was able to pay off her balance.
– ‘Quick fix’ gone wrong –
“A friend recommended it because I needed a quick fix,” another victim, a 24-year-old who took out a loan two years ago as a university student and asked his name not be used, told AFP.
After spending more than N300,000 conducting laboratory investigations for his final thesis and still needing more funds to complete his research and beat submission deadlines, the money seemed like a lifesaver.
He took out N70,000 when he was a final-year student in 2023. He was meant to pay back about N110,000 within a month, but was too broke.
The loan app then began sending messages to his phone contacts that he was a “ritualist killer”. He said he was not aware he had given the app access to his contacts.
“A couple of my coursemates got the messages.
“It wasn’t the case of unwillingness to pay; it was just a case of impossibility,” he told AFP.
An increasing number of Nigerians have turned to personal loans following reforms by President Bola Tinubu to shock the country’s moribund economy and remove costly subsidies.
Though some economists have voiced approval for the measures, Tinubu’s policies have sent inflation skyrocketing and the value of the naira plunging, hitting many ordinary Nigerians in their pockets.
Even when apps mislead people on interest rates, they can often provide better rates than traditional banks — with the benchmark interest rate at 27.5 percent, conventional loans can come with interest rates at 27 to 48 percent.
While there was no breakdown for so-called fintech apps, lenders in the country handed out about 470 billion naira in personal loans in the last quarter of 2024.
By December, outstanding personal loans jumped “by 21.27 percent to 3.82 trillion naira compared with the level at end-September 2024”, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in March.
As of the same month, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) approved 408 loan apps, up from 269 in September 2024, with 42 receiving conditional clearance.
The CBN approved 23 apps, up from 14 in the third quarter of last year.
Forty-seven were delisted and 88 placed on watchlists for various offences, including harassment.
The watchdog had said in the past that some loan apps were operating in the country illegally.
– Loan sharks ‘thrive’ –
Many of the loan apps’ ease of access and swift processing create a trap, said Funmi Oderinde, a lawyer at Citizens’ Gavel, a civil society organisation that has been pushing back against the lenders.
The organisation has so far received at least 1,300 complaints over “predatory digital loan apps”.
“These promises are deceptive, and borrowers soon face unethical recovery practices such as defamation, harassment, threats, breaches of data privacy, arbitrary fines, and excessively high interest rates aimed at pressuring them into repayment,” Oderinde said.
Some victims of the harassment have formed different support groups on Facebook. One such group has more than 21,000 members.
A victim told Citizens’ Gavel that, after her phone was accessed remotely, a fake obituary and a real nude photo were shared with her contacts by a loan app.
According to Oderinde, two of the people who approached the organisation for legal help “could have died” due to harassment from loan app agents.
The FCCPC, in a note sent to lenders in August, said it would “periodically monitor interest rates for services of consumer lending, and ensure rates are not exploitative”.
But despite regulatory moves, dozens of apps continue to operate under new names, and desperate borrowers often do not check approval lists before applying.
The result is that loan sharks “thrive”, Oderinde said, “because of weak sanctions and poor enforcement”.
AFP
President Bola Tinubu has officially sworn in Professor Joash Amupitan as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The ceremony followed the Senate’s confirmation of Amupitan’s appointment last week after a rigorous screening session on October 16.
At the swearing-in, President Tinubu tasked Amupitan with safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s elections and strengthening INEC’s institutional capacity.
“As the chairman of INEC, your nomination and confirmation reflect the confidence reposed in you by both the executive and legislative arms of government. This marks the start of a challenging yet rewarding journey, and I trust you will approach your duties with integrity, dedication, and patriotism,” Tinubu said.
Highlighting Nigeria’s democratic progress over 25 years, the President emphasized the need for continuous innovation and reform to maintain free, fair, and credible elections. He urged Amupitan to ensure transparency and public trust throughout the entire electoral process—from voter registration and campaigning to voting and counting.
Amupitan, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), arrived at the State House on Thursday dressed in traditional white agbada and gold cap ahead of the formal ceremony. He was accompanied by presidential aides.
During his Senate screening, the 58-year-old nominee pledged to restore credibility to Nigeria’s electoral process by prioritizing reforms, including strengthening the Electoral Act to resolve inconsistencies in election timelines and enhance transparency.
“We must conduct elections where even the loser congratulates the winner fairly,” Amupitan told senators, emphasizing the need to rebuild voter confidence.
He also clarified his neutrality by denying any involvement in President Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Court, stating, “I never appeared before the Presidential Election Tribunal or the Supreme Court for any party.”
Amupitan succeeds Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the sixth substantive INEC chairman since the commission’s establishment. He is expected to immediately begin the transition process at INEC headquarters in Abuja following his swearing-in.
Profile
Born on April 25, 1967, the 58-year-old Amupitan hails from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, Plateau State. He is also an alumnus of the university.
He specialises in Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance and Privatisation Law. He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2014.
After completing primary and secondary education, he attended Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, from 1982 to 1984, and the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987. He was called to the bar in 1988.
Amupitan earned an LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, amid an academic career that began in 1989, following his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.
He currently serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, a position he holds in conjunction with being the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.
Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS are: Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014); Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014); and Head of Public Law (2006-2008).
Outside of academics, Amupitan serves as a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council, and a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles. He was a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja(1996-2004).
Amupitan is the author of many books on law, such as Corporate Governance: Models and Principles(2008); Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008); Evidence Law: Theory and Practice in Nigeria(2013), Principles of Company Law(2013) and an Introduction to the Law of Trust in Nigeria (2014).
He is married and has four children.
Dangote Group has denied owning the truck that crushed a pregnant woman, a child, and six others to death in an accident in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The company issued the clarification in a statement on its X account on Wednesday.
The statement followed reports that a cement-laden truck suffered brake failure and rammed into traders and other road users.
Reacting, Dangote Group said the truck involved in the tragic incident does not belong to the group or any of its subsidiaries.
It added that vehicle registration records confirm the truck is owned and operated by an independent logistics company with no affiliation to Dangote Group.
“Dangote Group has refuted reports circulating on social media and in some online platforms linking it to a truck involved in a road accident in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
“The company wishes to make it categorically clear that the truck involved in the unfortunate incident does not belong to Dangote Group or any of its subsidiaries.
“Verified vehicle registration details confirm that the truck with Plate No. JJJ 365 XB is owned and operated by an independent logistics company with no affiliation to Dangote Group,” the statement reads.
News
VIDEO: Sowore Arrested at Federal High Court Premises, Abuja, After Meeting Nnamdi Kanu.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” the policeman said.
Police operatives have arrested former presidential candidate and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Sowore was forcibly taken away by armed police officers from the Federal High Court premises in Abuja on Thursday, October 23, 2025, shortly after attending the court session of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Sowore, who has been leading campaigns for Kanu’s release, was confronted by security operatives who insisted he accompany them to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.
Eyewitnesses disclosed that the officers surrounded him moments after he exited the courtroom, refusing to disclose specific details about his alleged offence.
When questioned by onlookers, one of the policemen stated that they were acting on the directive of the FCT Commissioner of Police.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” the policeman said.
As of the time of filing this report, the reason for Sowore’s arrest and his current whereabouts remain unclear.
Credit: Punch
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