The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) which recently shut down some illegal online money lenders and instructed the duo tech firms Google LLC and Apple Inc. to withdraw their applications from their stores, is set to introduce proper regulatory framework for the operators.
The FCCPC Chairman, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, revealed this information at the World Consumer Rights Day in Abuja.
According to him, the agency is planning on setting up regulatory controls for the money lenders in Nigeria due to its findings during its raids.
What FCCPC is saying about the money lenders
The FCCPC stated that during the raid, they discovered that “this is much more serious than we thought and we have to now look at how we can bring these people into the regulatory framework.
“On the raid that we conducted on Opebi Street in Lagos, we discovered that this is much more serious than we thought it is .The hall was very big, each person has a computer with phone to reach loan defaulters.
“In the process, we took from them 119 laptops, eight mobile phones, one table phone and one hard drive. These devices are now with forensic experts and if we look at them and all the things that we can gather from them, we can now decide on the way forward. This is because there are faces behind these fellows.”
He added that the workers at the sites were unemployed graduates who do not have any other means of livelihood, who tried to even riot against us for preventing them from doing what their job is.
“They said Chinese gave them employment and the Federal Government did not and the Federal Government said they should not continue with what they are doing, adding that they felt it proper to attack the FCCPC, which saw the Police being brought in as cover to shoot in the air to disperse them. It was a terrible experience we have to now look at how we can bring these people into the regulatory framework,” he added.
Keynotes
Rate Captain reported on the 14th March 2022 that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), an agency set up by the Federal Government to tackle violation of consumer rights and unfair practices in the money lending industry shut down some online illegal money lenders in the economy of its enforcement.
The FCCPC has also given orders to the duo tech firms, Google LLC (Play Store) and Apple Inc. (App Store) to withdraw certain lending app firms from their stores after evidences showed inappropriate conduct or use of the application in violation of the rights of consumers.
