Despite unconventional methods loan firms deploy to collect their money, the country’s economic crisis is forcing Nigerians to use loan apps to get immediate emergency cash. The ICIR’s Shehu Olayinka examines stories of Nigerians who had terrible experiences with loan companies.

DOLAPO’s dad had received a call from a Henloan marketing agent, promising loans and affordable interest. After pondering for a while and being pushed by his financial crisis, he opted for the loan. Going for the loan remains one of his worst decisions in life as subsequent events unfolded.

“My dad, Jide Wale, borrowed money from other apps, but Henloan made life a hell for him. His mood changed as they constantly called and harassed him.”, Dolapo told The ICIR.

She said her father wanted to take a loan of N65,000. However, after downloading the app and inputting his details, he saw more interest than what the company’s agent had told him. He cancelled the request and deleted the app.

But despite not going ahead with the loan request, Dolapo said a few minutes later, her father got an alert of N25,000 to pay N55,000, which to him was too much interest for a N25,000 loan he did not request.

He was desperate to return the money and immediately called the Henloan representative who introduced the app. To his shock, he was told to return the money in full: pay the N55,000.

“They were calling daily and threatening to send messages to all his contacts, which they later carried out,” She told this newspaper. “My sister and I were constantly harassed and sent messages accusing my dad of being a criminal and ritualist.”

The messages sent to Dolapo’s father are part of strategies for loan apps in Nigeria deployed to force defaulters to repay.

The tactics are sometimes used to tarnish a defaulter’s image.

But Dolapo said her dad was not a defaulter as he didn’t request the loan. He had earlier accessed loans from Quick Credit, Cash Express and Cash Credit.

“The harsh economy may have pushed my dad to borrow from loan apps. But the outcome wasn’t palatable for my family. Though the constant messages and calls have stopped, they embarrassed us,” she said.

“I have told him to stop borrowing from loan app companies. That moment was difficult for us. Now, I try as much as possible to support him with what little I have.”

Dolapo’s family experience at the hands of Henloan is not uncommon. Many Nigerians who defaulted on loans experience harassment and cyberbullying by loan app operators despite efforts by the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and Nigeria Data Protection Commission- NDPC to clamp down on the use of crude tactics to recover loans.

In April, the Nigerian government, through the FCCPC, banned unethical and illegal activities by lending apps, including accessing debtors’ contact lists. It also prohibited loan apps from accessing contacts and images of their customers.

It also approved 173 digital lending applications to operate in the country. The commission gave conditional authorisations to 54 loan applications, while 119 got full approvals.

Clients of some loan apps also told The ICIR that they received loans despite not applying.

There is limited information about Henloan online. However, The ICIR discovered that Henloan also uses the name Hencredit, which is operated by Orange Loans and Purple Credit Limited. They also have the same email address listed for inquiries, as seen here.

There is also limited information for Quick Cash online. The ICIR effort to speak with a Quick Cash agent named Bode, who contacted Dolapo’s family, was rebuffed. Bode declined to comment and insulted the reporter after he was told of the cyberbullying claim against him and Quick Cash.

The other loan company that harassed Dolapo’s family was Quick Credit.

The ICIR found two loan companies using the name Quick Credit.

One of the loan companies, Quick Credit company, is owned and operated by Quick Credit Nigeria Limited.

Quick Credit Nigeria Limited is registered on the CAC database with registration number RC 1496778, identified as active by the commission, and registered as a General Contract and Merchandise company.

Two persons with significant control, Olapade Murtala Ayodele and Ejodame Odia Osewele, listed as Shareholder and Director, respectively, found on CAC and NGCheckers, were sent emails on the activities of Quick Credit.

In response to the enquiry, Ayodele denied Quick Credit engages in cyberbullying, stating that the organisation had been non-operational in the last 18 months due to an ongoing restructuring.

The second Quick Credit loan company was also sent a message in an email found on its Facebook page.

The ICIR called a phone number on the Facebook page, to which a female staff responded but declined to provide information about the organisation’s operation. She said the organisation would respond to the email sent by this reporter, but as of the time of filing this report, no response was received.

‘They said I have AIDs, and I’m a LovePeddler’
It’s a good initiative that such platforms exist, said *Bimbo (not real name), but according to her, using crude tactics when issues arise between a loan app and a customer would leave anyone regretting borrowing the money.

The ICIR reporter found Bimbo on a Telegram public channel, “Say No to Loan Sharks”, with 584 subscribers.

The group was observed to serve as a communication channel where Nigerians who have been at the receiving end of loan apps use crude tactics to fight back — and some have even claimed to be able to defraud lenders. The Telegram Channel also has a Facebook group.

This newspaper found more than five such groups on Facebook. [Say no to Sokoloan & Loan sharks, Say no to Sokoloan, Say no to Soko loan and LCredit ETC, Say No to loan app, Mobile loan apps debt victims in Nigeria, Say no to loan sharks, Illegal/fraudulent loan apps victims.]

Bimbo had posted on the page, looking for help dealing with the harassment and cyberbullying from agents of loan apps. After failing to make a timely repayment, Bimbo said she was hounded and defamed and had to turn off her phone to escape the abuse.

Bimbo, currently job hunting, said she took a combined loan of N180,000 from Fundy and Flypay loan apps.

“I had no option. I was broke and needed the money to offset some bills. But that was a big mistake, as those guys made my life a living hell,” she said.

She also disclosed that loan apps are increasingly reaching out to Nigerians through marketing agents to explain the advantages of obtaining loans through their apps.

She stated that before users download the apps, agents fail to disclose the actual interest rate on the loan.

“It’s good that people have something to rely on financially. But the interest rate and the whole cursing and defamation are upsetting and wrong. They also have this habit of saying (on the dashboard, they’d show you, e.g. 54k to pay 58k) when you click on the receive money. They could disburse 33k to pay 58k in 7 days. And sometimes? You don’t have to apply; they will send it to your account as soon as you download their app and input your bank and BVN details into their app.”

“When I couldn’t pay back in time, they started harassing me and sending messages to my contacts. They said I had HIV/AIDs, that I was a prostitute who slept with men for between N800 and N5,000, and that my parents molested me as a kid. All were sent to all my contacts; it was the same day my loan was due.”

Bimbo told this reporter that she intended to repay her debt once she could, but as of the time of filing this report, she had not done so.

“Clients getting loans without applying”
A recovery agent with Camelloan, whose identity is being withheld because he was not authorised to speak, confirmed to The ICIR that marketing agents of some loan apps fail to disclose the actual interest rate on loans to users they call or message.

He also said the culture at loan companies is for workers to either meet their target or get sacked if they fail.

“We are always given targets. We are only doing this to survive. It is not as if we enjoy doing all this. Calling people regularly, but we need to work and feed our family. I have seen people get hired and sacked in a month because they couldn’t meet the target. And the salary is not that much, but we are doing it for survivors. You know the country is hard,” the agent said.

The source also admitted to having had clients complain about receiving loans without applying.

“I don’t understand how that works. But I have heard people complain that they didn’t apply for loans before being sent the money. We have complained to our managers and told them this doesn’t seem right, but they appear not to care about it.

The source said he wasn’t sure if the app was faulty, adding that the practice could be intentional.

Another source, who works as a marketing agent with Camelloan, admitted to the loan app companies sending money to people despite not applying.

“It’s a problem we face. Some complain about not applying for the loans sent to their accounts.”

A borrower, Eseosa Godfrey, whom Camelloan agent contacted first via text, described how he was tricked into taking a loan by a marketing representative of Camelloan named Paul but backed out when he realised the agent had misled him about the interest rate.

Godfrey said despite not seeking one, he received a short-term loan of N6,000 to be paid in seven days and experienced harassment and defamation after failing to repay the debt in full with interest.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/hardship-more-nigerians-opt-for-loan-sharks-amid-harassment-defamation/

Long article like election tribunal judgement