Nasarawa PoS operators unveil task force to tackle fraud
The Nasarawa State chapter of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria has inaugurated its Joint Task Force to tackle the issues of fraud being perpetuated by some criminally-minded Point of Sales agents in the state.
Speaking at the event which was held at the AMMBAN State Secretariat in the Karu Local Government Area on Wednesday, the state Chairman, Noah Enesata, said the setting up of the team was part of the association’s efforts towards ensuring a secured and efficient financial service delivery by PoS agents in the state.
While noting that the AMMBAN Joint Task Force would be working closely with the security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to achieve its aims and objectives in the shortest possible time, Enesata assured of the association’s commitment to completely tackle financial crimes usually carried out via POS across the 13 LGAs of Nasarawa State.
The newly inaugurated JTF team include Simon Emeka-Kenneth as Chairman; Salisu Ibrahim as Secretary; Thani Godwin-John as Publicity Secretary; Victor Orih-Daniel as Mobiliser Secretary; John Enemona-Amenson as Member; and Shedrack Ilani as Member.
He said, “The major reason for establishing the AMMBAN Joint Task Force is to tackle fraud. This is because, for one reason or the other, some people are now scared of using PoS machines for their transactions. After all, fraudsters are beginning to take advantage of agency banking.
“In some cases, we heard of instances where armed robbers and kidnappers make use of PoS machines to steal from people and collect ransom from their victims, among other illegal practices.
“Every PoS operator is supposed to have a physical location so that if there are any issues, we would know how to address them. PoS operators are an extension of the bank, so even on days when the bank is not working, they are expected to serve their customers in their respective towns and communities with all sincerity.”
Enesata, therefore, assured that the association will continue to follow all the guidelines and directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure a secured and efficient financial service delivery by PoS operators to the entire residents of Nasarawa State.
In his acceptance speech, the new AMMBAN Joint Task Force chairman thanked the association for the confidence reposed in him and his team to serve, promising that they would do everything within their powers to tackle the issues of fraud among PoS operators in the state.
While mentioning the duties of the team to include enforcement, crime reporting, investigation, public awareness and media engagement, among others, the JTF chairman lamented the current scarcity of cash in the state and appealed to Governor Abdullahi Sule to consider collaborating with the CBN in order to address the matter.
“Part of our assignment is to go into the field and enforce the directives of the CBN and our executives. Because if you go out there, you will discover that some of the customers are no longer safe doing business with PoS agents.
“Also, you will discover that there is a lot of fraud going on in the sector. We are going to make sure that we put a stop to it. We are going to make the environment safe for our businesses so that customers will be comfortable while doing business with PoS agents in the state,” he added.
Our correspondent reports that dignitaries at the event include the AMMBAN Chairman of the Abuja branch, Jile Modupe-Janet; Nasarawa State Treasurer of AMMBAN, Danjuma Umar, representatives of the association from the LGAs in the state, among others.
