In March 2021, a man who simply identified as Olaitan invested N1.4 million in Cokodeal, a Nigerian e-commerce firm. He hoped to get N1.6 million in August of the same year, but he got neither his capital nor his returns.

FIJ learned that Cokodeal positioned itself as an e-commerce platform that connects traders in Africa to the world. Headquartered in Abuja, Cokodeal claimed to connect Nigerian exporters to buyers in other countries.

People were told to subscribe to the company’s scheme by investing in the products exporters hoped to ship and get a certain amount of money back when the goods were bought.

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“Before now, my friend invested in this company and got results. My findings showed they were authentic. When I visited their office and website, everything seemed to work,” said Olaitan.

“My investments were to mature in August 2021. When it was time to pay back, they defaulted. Upon inquiry, they said the product they financed for export was defective. So, the recipient of the product did not pay because of its poor quality.”

When Olaitan asked why the company defaulted, they blamed the federal government’s export regulations. He also asked Cokodeal how they planned to repay their investors, but again, they did not answer him.

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“I tried to talk to them via WhatsApp and through my lawyer, even in a meeting. They set a meeting date, but my lawyer could not locate their address. And their number was not reachable,” he said.

“I emailed them to let them know what had happened. They apologised, saying they rescheduled the meeting to the last week of December.”

He said the company paid him N200,000 in December. But 85 percent of his initial investment is still with Cokodeals.

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“Between then and now, all I heard from them were excuses and stories. I spoke to one of their regional directors, but it has been a struggle. They said they would pay N400,000 on the first Friday of every month. But they never did,” he said.

“I called and sent emails, yet there was no response. They said the government placed a restriction on their company’s account in Nigeria. It is an endless cycle of excuses.”

FIJ contacted Cokodeal, but their line was not reachable. At press time, they had also not responded to a text message sent to them.