A 45-year-old woman identified as Omobola Adams has described how her friend Victoria Ogungbemi lost both her spouse and her life as a result of constant intimidation and harassment from the loan shark company Amo Credit Limited.
Omobola disclosed that the loan company was encountered by her friend’s daughter in Lagos, and that ever since then, they have been virtually pursuing them.
She further added that the loan shark company eventually caught up with them in south-south Bonny, a town in Rivers State towards the end of November 2023.
This sad narration comes up in the middle of public outcry against the unethical actions of loan sharks that provide solicited or unsolicited loans and end up harassing borrowers over delay repayment caused by increased in interest rates among others.
The reporter’s findings showed that the majority of these loan sharks are fintech companies that operate outside the law and offer loans with exorbitant interest rates and stringent terms of collection upon default.
Further research also showed that these loan sharks make modest loans with short repayment terms, high interest rates, and service fees, and that most borrowers fall behind on their payments as a result of these terms.
It was also discovered that loan sharks have affiliates across the nation, making it difficult for their victims to flee their attacks and assaults.
The 45-year-old woman while decrying the demise of her friend, Victoria Ogungbemi disclosed that the loan shark company did not leave her friend’s daughter to live in peace after she had pulled out of the company’s agreement due to increase in interest rates.
She further disclosed that the company increased interest rates, compelled her friend’s daughter to pay within stipulated time and threatened her life when she dared to opt out.
While narrating her friend’s daughter ordeal in the hands of loan sharks, Omobola disclosed that her friend, Victoria later died of high blood pressure on 27th of December 2023, as a result of pressures, threats and harassment she was constantly facing from Amo Credit Limited after she informed the loan company that her daughter had pulled out of the deal.
“When they call or message people on my friend’s contact list, they would not tell them about the increase in interest rates, rather tell them that my friend’s daughter owed them. They frustrated her with calls and threats for being her daughter’s guarantor. Infact, I was also threatened by the loan company for being on her contact list. An obviously sad Omobola added, “ I felt terrible when I lost my friend.”
Omobola went on to say that the loan shark organization had made her friend’s life more unpleasant with interest rates and service charges, even though she and her daughter had sought for a loan to expand their business in order to improve thier livelihood.
“The abuse didn’t stop even after my friend passed away. They continued to engage the service of thugs to harass my friend’s husband. Sometimes, they beat him up mercilessly. In order to scare and annoy customers, this loan shark employed thugs to intimidate clients to agree with new interest rates”.
“We reported them to the police but they got away easily. My friend’s husband, Thaddeus Ogungbemi later passed away early this year January 3rd 2024 barely a week after his wife demise as a result of the constant tortures he faced and pains of loosing his wife”.
My friend was a target of cyberbullying and character slander as a result of pressure from loan sharks. She really suffered. She was exposed to emotional trauma and lived her life in fears, Omobola added.
In response to the news, Bamidele Asaju, a financial expert, said that most fintech companies and loan sharks typically break the law and abuse people’s rights when trying to get their money back.
“They would rather take law into their own hands and avoid notifying the appropriate authorities, using thugs and harassment to get their money back.”
Asaju advised loan sharks not to impose excessive interest rates, which have raised the poverty levels of many of their victims, while urging for a decisive regulatory action to reduce these loan sharks’ excesses.