Raimot Ajibade (not real name), a Lagos-based business lady, has narrated how Bell Loan, an online personal loan agency, sent defamatory messages to her phone contacts, including her aged mother.

Ajibade told FIJ she had taken a loan from the organisation due to an emergency.

“Due to an emergency, I requested for ₦29,000 from Bell Loan but was paid ₦26,000 on September 4. My loan was to be paid within seven days, which was Saturday, September 10,” Ajibade said.

“When I got the ₦26,000 loan, they told me they would calculate the interest, so I didn’t bother to check again. Going by my calculations, I was supposed to pay back ₦36,000 at most, which I planned to do on the due date.”

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Ajibade was surprised when she learnt the actual amount she was supposed to pay on the deadline.

“As early as 9:00 am on the due date, I got a call from one of their agents, reminding me I was supposed to pay before noon,” she said.

“He then told me that I was supposed to pay ₦42,949. I asked him how I was supposed to pay that since I hadn’t defaulted yet. The interest rate of almost ₦18,000 for a seven-day loan seemed ridiculous.”

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Ajibade narrated to FIJ how the agent insulted her and started sending defamatory messages to her contacts.

“He insulted me and asked if I was blind. He said I should have searched about them online before applying for the loan,” Ajibade said.

“Before I could even reply, he sent me a screenshot of a poster with my picture, full name and phone number that had already been circulated to 16 of my contacts, claiming I was HIV positive and had infected 22 men.

“He threatened to send it to 60 more people if I didn’t pay up the money that day.

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“I asked him the reason for the action of his, and I promised to report him to their agency. Before I knew it, he sent the same poster to more people.

“I started getting calls and messages, different people asking me what was going on. He even sent the same message to my aged mother who became scared for me.

“It seemed true because I have been in the hospital for more than a month now. I had a fibroid surgery recently, which was one of the reasons I needed money urgently. So sending to people that I had HIV started making sense to them.

“When I reached out to him, he blocked me after telling me that another agent would get across to me.

“When the other agent called me, I said I wasn’t going to pay back until they withdrew their defamatory message by apologising to everyone they had previously sent the messages to.”

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Several phone calls were made to the Bell Loan agent, but they were not answered. A text message sent to them had also not been responded to at press time.