From Our Correspondent
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has again alerted Nigerians in the Diaspora to be wary of some unscrupulous groups canvassing for business opportunities.
Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the Director of Media and Public Relations of NIDCOM issued an advisory message on the faceless group on Wednesday in Abuja.
“Another group, Optiva Capital Partners Limited, claims it is targeting $5 billion through the launch of a new product. It tagged the product as ‘Diaspora Investor Direct Investment’.
“It is asking Nigerians abroad to send monies to it directly for investment purposes.
“NIDCOM now warns Nigerians, especially those in the diaspora, to be cautious in dealing with such groups.
“Our office receives a series of reports of fraudulent activities of some of these groups.
“They are now subjects of investigations with the EFCC,” TheNewsZenith quotes Balogun as stating.
According to him, this group is not known to the Commission. It is only NIDCOM that has the mandate to engage with the Nigerians in the Diaspora about any service.
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“This aligns with the Act of Parliament (2017) and the National Diaspora Policy of 2021.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there are Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit, Nigeria Diaspora Trust Fund and Nigeria Diaspora Housing Scheme.
“There are also Diaspora Mortgage Scheme, National Diaspora Day and Diaspora Focal Persons appointed by the State Governors to deal with issues relating to the diaspora, among several others geared towards National development.
He further stated that NIDCOM has a register of diaspora groups in various countries, promoting investments to Nigeria.
“But this group, (Optiva Capital Partners Limited) and its Chairman, Franklin Nechi, is not one of them and the product tagged Diaspora Investor Direct Investment (DIDI) is not officially registered with the appropriate authorities and is unknown to NIDCOM.”
Balogun emphasised that NIDCOM would never ask any Diaspora groups or individuals to send money through it for any development purposes.
“This is a red flag and we caution Diaspora groups and individuals to watch out for such organisations.”
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