A HYUNDAI WAS USED BY SCAMMERS AS BAIT IN THE MONUMENTAL FRAUD
L-O-T-T-E-R-Y G-A-T-E:
MULTI-BILLION NAIRA LOTTERY
RACKET PERSIST
INSIDE MTN
BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.
A multi-billion naira lottery scam is at the moment
threatening to destroy the fabric upon which the Telephony player, MTN Communications Nigeria Limited, The National
Sports Lottery Plc now called Centenary Lottery
stands upon.
In an exclusive investigations by Paedia Express Multimedia
at the Commercial Room of the Lagos
state High Court in Igboshere in Lagos on the 4th of
February,2015,it was discovered that the scam which had been on for the past
six years was still on as at press time leading to several billions of naira been
lost by unsuspecting Nigerians at the hands of MTN Communications Nigeria
Limited and Centenary Lottery which
changed its names from its previous nomenclature after suffering a bad press.
Forensic checks by Paedia Express Multimedia after initially
tipping Nigerians -off in 2012 of the dangerous activities of the stakeholders shows that a certain, Alhaji Tunde Balogun,a
Pioneer President of Kwara Shippers Association, a sub-group under the Nigerian
Shippers Council and one of Nigeria’s
top authorities in the field of gum Arabic exports and agriculture who has decided to take the bulls by the horns by
challenging the telephony company and its regulatory body of providing a platform
for fraud in the lottery scheme.
A source speaks:”They promise that the people will get paid N100million
but they are not paying to anybody ,they said that the winners should go to the
office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr Anyim Pius Anyim but the
latter directed them back “
“Alhaji Balogun has complained bitterly to the Special Fraud
Unit[S.F.U.]of the Nigerian Police, The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission [E.F.C.C.],The National Lottery Regulatory Commission in
Abuja,infact the latter worked hard to do something but in the end they buried
up all that facts behind the case”
“to make matters worse, the legitimate phone number of Alhaji Tunde Balogun which he paid for has
been blocked by MTN in the last three and a half years after they falsified there own call log records to the courts”
“What MTN is owning Alhaji Balogun is put at over N50million
excluding the damages to be accrued at the end of the day”
It was learnt that Justice O.A.Williams of the Lagos High Court
has ordered another hearing for the case , to be now heard on the 26th of March,2015.
It was observed at the court premises through competent
sources that the defendants came for the
hearing with a strong team made up of three lawyers who were not available to
speak to the press as Alhaji Tunde Balogun.
Paedia Express Multimedia was also reliably informed that
soldiers were used to cahse out all those who went to make enquiries from the office
of the Secretary to the Federal Government ,Chief Anyim Pius Anyim recently..
The source who spoke to Paedia Express Multimedia
exclusively on the heated issue insists that the case was about seeing the
light of the day after been in the dark tunnel for six years.
The Federal Government had
rolled out a 90-day lottery program me to complement activities commemorating
the country’s centenary celebration.
The Secretary to the Government of
the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, flagged off the programme in Abuja in which N100million was announced as
the star price in addition to 90 Hyundai cars which would be won on a daily
basis for 90days.
Also, various consolation prices
ranging from tricyles, generators, smart phones, television sets and freezers
would be given out to lucky winners through out the duration of the draws.
It was also said at the time that
there would be weekly bonus price of
N5million which will be aired on the Nigeria Television Authority at 8:00 pm
daily.
The lottery is facilitated by Secure
Electronic Technology Plc in collaboration with the major telecommunication
providers such as MTN, Etisalat, Glo, Airtel and Visa phone.
Other stakeholders include, Nigeria
Lottery Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Communication Commission, Ministries of
Culture and Tourism and Communications.
Nigerians are expected to text QP to
35777 to participate in the lottery.
Anyim had tasked the organizers on
transparency and fairness, saying,”the integrity and involvement of all the
stakeholders was at stake if the entire process was flawed.”
He said,”You must make fairness and
transparency your watch words through out the duration of the Centenary
Lottery. The Centenary lottery stands out as one program me that all Nigerians
can participate in, it also stands out as a means to give back to Nigerians and
bring the benefits of the Centenary celebration home to many Nigerians.”
Also speaking, the Minister of
Culture and Tourism, Mr. Edem Duke urged Nigerians to take advantage of the
lottery to refresh their memories on the history of Nigeria, especially on the
occasion of the 100 years anniversary.
According to him, the questions
would be tied around historical events in Nigeria.
Representatives of the various
telecommunication providers all pledged their support to ensure the lottery
runs smoothly.
It would be recalled that the
National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) had warned Nigerians to beware of
fake centenary celebration lottery text messages.
Mr Adolphus Ekpe, Director-General
of NLRC, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on last year that some people had taken
advantage of the Centennial Lottery project to “play smart and defraud people.
“People always take advantage of
what is on ground to defraud others, If you did not play and you are getting
text massages asking you to come and collect your prize, why would you go
knowing fully well you did not participate?’’
Ekpe said the centenary lottery was
being handled by a company, Secured Electronic Technology (SET), and not by the
commission.
He also explained that the
commission was not in charge of monitoring messages concerning the lottery and
so could not do anything about scam messages.
The director-general said the
commission’s sole mandate was to play a regulatory role and ensure that
consumers were not defrauded and that winners got their prizes from lottery
companies.
He also noted that the commission
monitored such lotteries to ensure that the companies followed the rules of the
game being played.
On the deadline for the lottery,
Ekpe said the company handling it felt it was not making profit as there were
few players and more prizes to be given.
“The company, being
profit-motivated, finds out that it was not making it the way it
expected; so it has to stop and change the modalities of the lottery.’’
He, however, said the commission
would ensure that the rules of the game were observed and winners collected
prizes within the stipulated 180 days.
If you claim that you played and won
but denied your prize, come to the commission and report and we will confirm if
you really won the prize.
“We have the names of every winner
and the category of prizes they have won and the stipulated day for you to
redeem your prize is within 180 days from the day of the draws’’, he stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the centenary lottery was initially scheduled to last for 90 days
but was extended due to logistic problems.
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