Nigerians who invested millions of naira in an online investment platform known as PXES are counting their losses after the scheme abruptly stopped paying returns and became inaccessible.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the platform stopped paying participants in early September, with investors who committed sums ranging from tens of thousands of Naira to millions left in limbo and in some cases, unable to reach the operators.
The collapse has triggered outrage among investors, some of whom stormed and looted PXES offices across the country, particularly in Adamawa and Kogi states, in a desperate bid to recover part of their money.
Our correspondents learnt that the platform attracted investors with unusually high daily returns.
According to reports, the platform promised investment returns at between 25 per cent and 50 per cent, with some packages offering as high as 120 per cent.
Saturday PUNCH could not independently verify all the reported returns.
Our correspondents gathered that in Adamawa and Kogi states, aggrieved investors descended on PXES offices after being unable to withdraw their funds.
Videos circulating online showed people removing chairs, tables and other items from the premises in Yola, while similar scenes were witnessed at the company’s office in Kabba.
In one of the videos, a man who reportedly invested about N209,000 was heard crying and lamenting his inability to recover his money.
The Kabba manager of the platform was said to have earlier sent a message to investors after payments stopped, assuring them that the management would compensate them for their patience.
However, three days after the message was circulated, the company allegedly shut its office, leaving investors with little information about the whereabouts of the operators or the fate of their funds.
A victim, Bunmi Awodipe, said the decision to invest in PXES was based on the experience of friends who appeared to be making money from the platform.
Awodipe told Saturday PUNCH that three of her friends had shown evidence of receiving returns from PXES, convincing her to put N200,000 into the scheme.
“They told me they invested money in PXES and were receiving their payments. They showed me evidence, so I decided to invest N200,000 and was receiving N7,000 every week. They only paid me for three weeks.
“When I went to their office last week, I didn’t see anyone. The place was locked and there was nothing in the office. Everything was removed,” Awodipe said.
Another investor, Deji Mulero, said he joined the platform after it was introduced to him by a customer.
“It’s one of my customers who introduced this thing to me on September 4. I registered with N65,000 and it crashed the same Friday. That was how I lost my money,” he said.
Another participant, who introduced himself simply as Wale, said he registered with N207,000 and had accumulated almost N600,000 in his account before the platform stopped operating.
Responding to an enquiry from Saturday PUNCH via message, Wale said, “Been there for some months. Registered with 207k, now on first stage supervisor. Got close to 600k already on that account. My friend in Abuja introduced the scheme to me.”
For 68-year-old Jumoke Talabi, the investment was intended to provide money for her granddaughter’s school expenses and household needs.
Talabi said she invested N64,800 after seeing other participants receive payments.
She said she had earlier received N70,000 from the platform and subsequently decided to increase her investment.
According to her, she had expected another payment when the platform’s withdrawal period arrived.
“I was meant to collect N18,000 before school resumes, and I thought that I would finish collecting all my profit. But so far, I have not collected any money.
“When they said we should withdraw on Friday, I was dancing. I told my brother that the money did not enter my account, but I was told it would hit my account in the evening. I was looking forward to it. They didn’t even pay me my N64,000. One of my friends doesn’t know what to do or where to go. She has been crying,” she recalled.
Explaining why she took the risk, the grandmother said, “It’s poverty that made me do it. If not poverty, I would not, because the money is meant for school fees. I thought that maybe, I would see some to buy rice and eat.”
Shola Adeshina, whose wife also lost money to the scheme, told Saturday PUNCH that some investors were attracted by claims that relatively small amounts could generate substantial daily returns.
He said his wife initially ignored his concerns about the platform because of the stories of people making money from it.
“Stories of participants using proceeds from the platform to buy cars and build houses further increased its appeal.
“The situation became alarming when a couple who invested millions of naira visited a branch after payments stopped, only to discover that the office had been abandoned,” he said.
How PXES worked
Interviews with participants and promotional materials reviewed by Saturday PUNCH indicate that PXES operated through a tiered membership structure in which participants paid specified amounts to join and were then given access to an online dashboard.
One participant, Funmi Deinde, told Saturday PUNCH that she withdrew her money before the collapse and explained that the platform had different levels, including Star 1, Star 2 and Star 3.
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