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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has mandated the police, commercial banks and FinTech operators like Opay and MoniePoint to prioritise the provision of information on accounts used by ‘one chance’ criminals to siphon their victims’ funds.
It also implored the Federal Government to shut down the operations of illegal and unauthorised loan companies in the country used by ‘one chance’ criminals to perpetrate their crimes.
The parliament urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, and other heads of security agencies, to enhance security in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to curtail the activities of criminals in Abuja and directed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to ensure that the Abuja Mass Transit functions optimally to provide the FCT residents a reliable transportation system that offer services till 9.30 pm daily.
This followed the adoption of a motion by the member representing Orhionmwon/Uhunwonde Federal Constituency of Edo State, Billy Osawaru, and the need for the security agencies to enhance surveillance in the FCT and work in synergy with banks to combat criminals in Abuja.
Osawaru, in his motion, decried the activities of ‘one chance’ criminals and kidnappers in the FCT.
“The heinous operation of ‘one chance’ and kidnappers in FCT, Abuja, has left their victims in a sorry state due to severe torture and their bank account emptied simultaneously at gun point,” he said.
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The lawmaker expressed worry that if urgent measures were not taken to combat the criminals, the FCT might become unsafe for everyone.
Osawaru stated that the perpetrators allegedly use magical powers to hypnotise their victims and take them to unknown destinations, where the money in their bank accounts are emptied with the use of POS and other money transfer devices.
He noted that the criminals usually inflict injuries on their victims, including raping their female victim, and pushing them out of a moving vehicle afterwards.
“In most cases, the victims’ phone numbers and bank accounts, are used to borrow money from illegal and unauthorised loan apps of the companies in Nigeria, thereby incurring humongous debt which the victims must offset afterwards.”
Osawaru expressed concern that most of the time, the bank accounts used for the criminal activities are difficult to track, due to lack of synergy between the security agencies and the banks.
The lawmaker noted that there is also the unwillingness of banks “to help customers and do proper investigation on their own with the excuses of waiting for police extract or affidavit or other requirements that could be frustrating, coupled with the money involved in the process, which the victims, whose money were stolen, may no longer afford.”
He argued that the directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), mandating banks to ensure that individual or corporate accounts were linked to the National Identification Number (NIN) and Biometric Verification Number (BVN) of their owners, makes it possible to trace every transaction done within and outside the bank.
