Group Demands Crackdown On Illegal Digital Loan Lenders

A national youth empowerment network representing 372 ethnic groups across Nigeria has called for urgent action against “predatory digital money lenders” operating illegally and exploiting vulnerable borrowers.

At a press conference in Abuja, the 372 Youth Empowerment Network’s national secretary, Hon Dayo Okewole sounded the alarm on “charlatans and criminally-minded individuals” who have hijacked the digital lending platform for their “nefarious activities.”

Okewole said the current economic hardships are driving many borrowers into the clutches of these “loan sharks” who impose exorbitant interest rates as high as 50-60% on short-term loans of just 7-14 days.

 He accused the lenders of balance manipulation and unleashing a destructive cycle of debt on desperate borrowers.

“Rather than have their problems solved, they run into more problems as these criminal loan sharks destroy everything in them,” Okewole stated.

The group’s publicity secretary, Comrade Chidi Nwogwugwu, alleged that the lenders resort to defamation and harassment tactics such as blackmail, slander, and contacting borrowers’ contacts to falsely label them as “fraudsters, rapists, serial child molesters and wanted persons.”

Okewole implored law enforcement agencies including the Inspector General of Police, the DSS, the Consumer Protection Council, and the Central Bank of Nigeria to outlaw these “evil digital lending platforms” which they asserted are operating illegally without licences or physical office locations, violating the country’s financial regulations.

The 372 Youth Empowerment Network is demanding the lenders be declared “persona non grata” and listed in a police gazette to prevent further exploitation of Nigerian citizens in dire economic straits.

Consumer rights advocates have long raised concerns about insufficient oversight and lack of accountability in the digital lending sphere in Nigeria.

The youth group’s call adds to mounting pressure on authorities to rein in the sector’s bad actors taking advantage of regulatory gaps.