For over two years, one of the biggest brands in the nation’s betting and gaming firmament, Sporty Bet, has been at daggers drawn with several of its customers, about 114 of them, over what those customers described as injustice and unfair treatment from the betting company.

 

The Bone of Contention:

 

Sometimes in April 2024, the popular betting company had frozen the accounts of some of the affected customers, over the allegation that the funds sitting in those accounts were heavily influenced by automated software programs (bots), rather than genuine winnings. The company explained that the action had become imperative, pending the time investigations would be carried out on those accounts to fully establish or refute the claim.

 

Interestingly, while the affected customers were surprised at the company’s rash decision, they were, however, ready to wait to enable the company carry out those necessary investigations and come out. They were surely expecting a no-guilty verdict, since they believed they had never in any way circumvented the process, as they were being accused.

 

But when the waiting was becoming endless, the affected customers decided to  make their feelings known to the company, pointing out the injustice inherent in locking away accounts worth N960m on a rather flimsy claim, which was obviously becoming increasingly difficult for the company to prove. Unfortunately, the company never responded. Sensing foul-play, the aggrieved customers decided to escalate their case. This they did by  registering their grievances with relevant regulatory and security agencies, complaining about their funds, about N960million, unjustly locked away in the betting site’s vault, and the not-too-golden silence the company had maintained since 2024.

 

Some of the agencies the 114 customers had run to, include:  the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Police Special Fraud Unit, the Force Intelligence and Investigation Department, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission ( NLRC), with the simple prayer of being allowed to have access to those winnings.

 

They had also asked that even if the company was going to stick to its gun, by not allowing them access to those funds, it should provide some reasons, regarding why they would be denied access to those funds, won by keeping strictly to the rules and regulations guiding the process. Unfortunately, the complaints have been left to gather dusts on the desks of those agencies.

 

Unfortunately, the above case seems not an isolated one. Not too long ago,  a customer of the company, Anthony Anozie, who had been using the platform, since 2023,  had complained of being locked out, after he had grown his account balance to nearly N18 million, through successive wins.

Interestingly, despite producing all the documentations, including his international passport, requested for by the company, till date the account still remains under ‘lock and key’.

The common concern, among the aggrieved customers, including:  Kolawole Idowu, Chisom Perpetual, Nwadaba Obinna and Baruwa Abdulazeez,  however, is that instead of giving them the much-needed assurances, and apprising them of steps being taken to address the situation, the betting site has decided to keep mute.

 

More frustrating, for them, is that complaints lodged to the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, since May 2024, is yet to be heard till date.

 

According to their solicitor, Kunle Bamidele of Prolex Solicitors, their accounts still remain frozen, and his clients are running out of patience.

 

For instance, rather than answering the question surrounding the exact status of the funds, and whether they are legitimate winnings, being wrongly withheld, or proceeds of manipulated accounts, rightly flagged, the company has continued to resort to subtle intimidation of the affected customers.

 

One of such was the court action taken by the company, with the aim of silencing the customers, but which was thrown out by the court, without achieving its results.

 

Another was the company’s sudden decision to flaunt the name of the anti-graft agency, the EFCC, as a partner in its bid at ridding the space of fraud. But while industry watchers  are fully in support of any efforts at sanitising the sector, they, however, believed the action has not really answered the questions of fairness, justice and due diligence being raised by those customers.

 

“Besides the fact that there was no correspondence from EFCC confirming such partnership, I believe if the company is sincerely committed to fighting fraud, it should start from this case. How can it be pretending to be fighting fraud when it suddenly locked some accounts after ensuring they had grown them  substantially, under the pretext that the winnings were tech-driven,” argued one of the complainants.

 

Attempts at finding out the status of this case from a staff of Sporty Bet,  who identified himself as Oluwagbenga, at the Customers Desk of the company, by BrandsTrack, proved futile.

 

The front desk officer,  who had thought the correspondent was putting the call through as a bettor, simply asked the  correspondent to drop its enquiries at the  Nigeriadotsupport.com, when he learnt about the purpose of the call.

 

Implications for the $3.6b industry

 

Stakeholders believe the implications are huge for an industry estimated at over $3.6billion (over N730billion) annually. They argue the  development may rock the sector to its foundation; since  over 60 to 65 million Nigerians are  actively engaged in that space.

 

Besides, being one of the industry giants, alongside others such as Bet9ja, 1xBet and BetKing, Sporty Bet’s actions might be taken to be the general attitude  of operators in the ecosystem, a mindset that may send negative signals to patrons and prospective investors.

Not a few believe Sporty Bet’s non-golden silence on this issue may negatively rub off on the sector, and shake the trust and confidence of investors and bettors in an ecosystem that has continued to act as a succour for many Nigerians, especially at these trying eonomic times.