By Amaechi Ogbonna
About five years ago when octogenarian, Pa John Adebiyi, invested his retirement benefits with an investment outfit in Lagos that promised 100 percent return over three months, his dream of a life of comfort that his terminal benefit could not guarantee him under a Nigerian economy buffeted by galloping inflation was fabulous.
But a promised time of harvest suddenly turned out a nightmare full of regrets, pain and anguish as the shock of losing everything to a wonder bank threw him into a coma he never recovered from.
Adebiyi’s pitiable story sums up the experience of many gullible Nigerians who in their quest for higher returns have ended up in the infamous net of some illegal financial operators .
However, as part of its statutory mandate of ensuring sound financial system stability, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has never relented in warning Nigerians periodically about the dangers of doing business with Illegal Financial Operators (IFOs), otherwise called Ponzi schemes or wonder banks.
But whether such advice are taken for what they are or jettisoned on the altar of greed and avarice by such investors is yet to be ascertained.
