Goodluck/Sambo Foundation: Victims demand compensation from Presidency

Some of the people who were defrauded by an organisation known as Goodluck/Sambo Foundation have urged the Presidency to compensate them for their loss.
PUNCH Metro had reported on May 3, 2013 that the Lagos State Police Command was investigating the foundation, located at 15 Oluwalogbon Street, Ketu.
Our correspondent, who visited the command headquarters, reported that the police arrested some of the suspects, but also granted them bail.
The spokesperson for the victims, Mr. David King, said over 7,000 people had been affected by the scam.
King, who is also a victim, said,  “The foundation was made for the purpose of campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan during the build-up to the last elections. The foundation was set up in Abuja by one Dr. Chris Ajakaiye, while Johnson Ajagbe was the South-West coordinator.
“The foundation was inaugurated in Lagos on March 14, 2011 and was headed by one Soledayo Akinmuboni. During the inauguration, they claimed the foundation would attract many benefits to members such as giving out loans, employment for graduates and scholarship opportunities to students. They said the government would give us this loan without interest and would be payable in three years.”
King said for better efficiency, they were divided into 62 zones, each of which was headed by a coordinator. He said the number of members per zone ranged from 42 to 150.
He said, “We used to hold our meeting every Tuesday in Ketu. There were 62 zones under the foundation and each zone had a coordinator. Only the coordinators were permitted to attend the meetings. The smallest zone has 42 members while the largest had 150
“They started selling the forms of the foundation to us at ridiculous prices. The members were more than seven thousand in Lagos headquarters which we later found out to be the illegal headquarters.”
King said the fraudsters extorted money from them on various occasions. He said sometimes, they would demand money to buy gifts for the president as well as for transport to Abuja.
He said as the membership grew, so did the extortion.
“They started increasing the price of the forms from N3, 000 to N6, 000. At different times, they collected transport fares to Abuja from the coordinators. They sometimes collected money to lodge the directors from Abuja in a hotel whenever they came around to Lagos. They collected money for logistics of all sorts from members,” he said.
It was learnt that after a year, members started to become suspicious and wondered why they had yet to receive any benefit.
PUNCH Metro learnt that one of the directors at the foundation, Atanda Johnson, later recommended that members should register for another scheme known as New Version Relief Programme.
Atanda promised that the loans from this programme would come out within three weeks and started selling forms for N6, 000 but later increased it to N10, 000.
King said unfortunately, after three months, the loans were still not forthcoming.
He said, “We waited for about three months and we did not get a dime. Later we were told that the money was ready but we should buy a plasma television for Atanda so as to encourage him to give us the money as soon as possible.
“They again went to meet with the coordinators and told them that for the money to get to them, we needed to deposit N350,000 into Atanda’s account. Each of the coordinators started giving him money. Later they said the money was ready and that each unit coordinator should go and get a lawyer.
“Some got lawyers with as much as N150, 000, while some even gave Atanda money to help them get lawyers. Atanda suddenly told us that he had no money to give us again. After this, we made reports to the police station and all the directors were arrested. We later discovered that the forms the suspects claimed to have taken to Abuja were kept at one corner of the Lagos office for over a year.”
King urged President Jonathan to give them part of the money they had lost as members had started threatening coordinators, demanding their money.
“What we want is money from the government because all the members of this foundation are threatening the coordinators who apparently know nothing about the scam. The least amount of money lost by a coordinator is N1m and we are 62. We want government to give us back our money so that the good name of Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo will not be stained,” King said.
Another coordinator, Motunrayo Oladosun, told PUNCH Metro that members had been threatening her and she had not been able to sleep at home.
She said the government should come to her aid as it had become a matter of life and death.
It was learnt that the case had been transferred to the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police.
One of the culprits, Atanda, admitted collecting money from the suspects. He however denied duping them, saying that he had good intentions for the members.