The House of Representatives has urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and other heads of security agencies to enhance surveillance in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and nip in the bud the activities of one-chance criminals.
It mandated police, all banks and FinTech operators like Opay and MoniePoint to give preference to such cases and ensure that victims get justice by providing on time, all information needed about the owner of the account used for such heinous act; use their mechanism to get hold of the account and apprehend the criminal.
The Green Chamber also urged the federal government to close down the operation of illegal and unauthorised loan companies in Nigeria used by those criminals and maximise the operation of Abuja Urban Mass Transit to provide the FCT residents with a reliable transportation system and extend their services to 9:30pm daily.
These resolutions were reached at the plenary on Wednesday when the House adopted a motion of urgent public importance, which was moved by Hon. Billy Osawaru(APC, Edo).
Moving the motion, the lawmaker acknowledged the heinous operation of One Chance and kidnappers in FCT, Abuja, which has left their victims in a sorry state due to severe torture while their bank accounts are emptied simultaneously at gunpoint.
He spoke about the perpetrators’ alleged magical powers used to hypnotise their victims and take them to an unknown destination, where the money in their different bank accounts are emptied with the use of POS and other money transfer devices, and at “the same time, inflict pain/injuries on them, rape their female victims and push them out of a speed moving vehicle afterwards.”
Osawaru expressed concern that; “the victims of this despicable act and bank account used for this criminal purpose seem to be difficult to track or trace, due to lack of synergy between the security agencies and banks, and also the bank’s unwillingness 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.
“The CBN directives mandating all bank operators to ensure that individual or corporate accounts of every customer are linked to their NIN and BVN which means every transaction done within and outside the bank could be traced.
“In most cases the phone numbers and bank accounts of their victims are used to borrow money from illegal and unauthorised loan apps of the companies in Nigeria, thereby incurred humongous debt which their victims must offset afterwards.
“On daily basis cases of such abound including that of our children/relatives, staff, secretaries etc and if nothing urgent is done to curb the activities of one chance in the FCT, Abuja and other states in general, and its perpetrators brought to book, FCT may not be safe for every one of us to stay.”