Juliana Francis
The Headfort Foundation for Justice @HeadfortF has shared on its XSpace, how it worked to secure the freedom of a 26-year-old lady, identified as Vee after her company Opay, dragged her to the police station and then prison after a customer failed to pay a loan collected.
According to the Headfort Foundation for Justice, Vee worked as an OPAY representative before her arrest.
She issued point-of-sale (POS) machines to POS operators and processed loans for customers who are also POS operators.
Sometime in 2022, two POS operators borrowed a loan of N1million which was shared between the two N500,000 each.
Headfort Foundation for Justice narrates: “One of the operators paid her loan fully while the other operator paid only N100,000.00k out of her N500,000.00k loan, she stopped using her POS machine and absconded.
“The company reported the matter to the police and instructed that Vee be arrested since she issued the loan to the POS operator. Vee was sacked, arrested, and taken to Area F where she spent a week in their custody.
“Vee pleaded with the company to allow her to continue her job with them so the money could be deducted from her salary, but the company refused and insisted on charging her to court.
“Vee was charged to Ogba Magistrate Court on the counts of conspiracy and stealing, which she pleaded not guilty to. The court granted her bail and remanded her in Kirikiri female prison, she could not perfect her bail until after six months in custody.
“The company added interest to an unpaid loan of N400,000.00 and claimed the sum of N1,017,000 on the charge. Vee Approached Headfort Foundation in June 2023 for legal aid when she could no longer pay the lawyer she hired.
“The matter was referred to ADR but the company never showed up with their representative to sign the terms of the settlement. The matter suffered several adjournments at the instance of the prosecution.
“On the 26th of February 2024, as always, there was no witness in court. Our lawyer applied that the matter be struck out for want of diligent prosecution and the court granted the application and discharged Vee after two years of legal tussle.”
