The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun a campaign to sensitise citizens against investing in Ponzi schemes.

Speaking during the exercise in Wuse Market, Abuja, on Friday, Emomotimi Agama, the director-general of SEC, said the move was to educate people on the dangers of Ponzi schemes.

Mr Agama regretted that some traders had fallen victim to the schemes and said the sensitisation was to engage the people physically.

He said the commission would sensitise markets across the country, churches, mosques, hospitals and barracks to reach all citizens.

”We decided to do this because we discovered that it is difficult for people to get the information that they require, and we sitting in our offices and requiring them to get information from our website, which might be difficult.

”The traders were happy, and a lot of them have fallen victim to Ponzi schemes, and they are now being enlightened. The Ponzi scheme is a global event; we will deal with it. The SEC of today is coming out to reach out to the people; this has never happened before,” he said.

Mr Agama appealed to the media to help the commission disseminate the information on the dangers of Ponzi schemes.

Some traders who had fallen victim to Ponzi schemes advised citizens to be careful of investments which promised double returns.

Abraham Onoja, a victim and trader at Wuse Market, said he lost N7 million to the scheme.

”I invested N2 million, and after one week, I was paid N2.45 million. I felt like it was the real one, and my neighbour invested N20 million, and after seven days, they paid him N27 million.

”I now invested N7 million, and the next day, I heard that the people were nowhere to be found. I don’t so much believe in money doubling until someone convinced me to do it,” he said.

Chijioke Nnodim, also a trader at Wuse Market, advised citizens to verify and watch well before investing in any company.

(NAN)