An unnamed agent of NairaBet, a sports betting platform, has killed himself after he could not pay a customer who allegedly won a N600k bet.
The Punch reports that residents of Obadeyi Ajala woke up on Wednesday, May 24, to find the remains of the young man dangling from a rope in an uncompleted shop at Ajala bus stop, on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
A resident, Monday Gabriel, told our correspondent on the telephone that the girlfriend of the deceased, who fainted the moment she saw his remains, gave an account of what could have prompted him to kill himself.
He said: “I was going to my workplace around 8am when I saw people around three uncompleted shops in Ajala bus stop. On getting there, I saw the corpse of a young man in one of the shops dangling from a rope.
“As we wondered what could have made him to kill himself, a lady, who later identified herself as his girlfriend, arrived at the scene and fainted on sighting the corpse. We poured water on her.
“When she regained consciousness, she told us that the man sent her a text message yesterday (Tuesday), saying he wanted to commit su*cide. She said she called his line, but he didn’t pick his calls.
“According to the girlfriend, the late man had a NairaBet shop. One of the customers won N600,000, but he has not paid him.”
Gabriel also added that two persons later came and took the lady away from the scene on a motorcycle.
Another eyewitness, Olanrewaju Adebiyi, said the deceased's remains was removed by policemen from the Ijaiye division.
He said: “I learnt he ran a NairaBet shop. If it is true that he was owing a customer N600,000, he must have received the money from the NairaBet management and used it for something else. I also play NairaBet and whenever I win, the agent I patronize pays me the moment the company credits his account.
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“The company doesn’t owe the agents, but some of them play smart at times when customers win big money.”
However, an official of NairaBet Contact Centre, who gave her name only as Chidika, said the firm always paid for any won ticket, adding that it was not aware of the incident.
She said: “We always pay for any won ticket. An agent has his own personal business. He/she is just a partner with NairaBet in which we share commission on a monthly or weekly basis. So, it depends on the understanding he had with the customer or the issue on the ground before he committed suicide.”
