6 Fake Insurers Arrested in Lagos

August 21, 2011 – By Rosemary  Onuoha
LAGOS — In continuation of its efforts to stamp out fake insurers in the country, six persons, including two staff of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, have been arrested in Lagos by the special taskforce of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, on wiping out of fake insurers in Nigeria.

This followed a raid on the premises of the licensing office in Ikeja, weekend. Those arrested have been handed over to the Area F Police Station in Ikeja.

Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, had said the exercise would continue until the commission got rid of fraudsters who are tarnishing the image of the insurance sector.

It would be recalled that NAICOM carried out similar raid in Abuja and arrested five illegal insurance operators. The arrests were made following a raid on the Area 1 vehicle licensing office in Garki by NAICOM task-force team comprising policemen, insurers and staff of the commission.

Among those arrested were three ladies and two men parading themselves as agents of NEM and Universal Insurance companies. Some fake insurers’ certificates and receipts purported to belong to these companies were retrieved from them.

Daniel appealed to Nigerians to join hands with the commission in wiping out fake insurers in  the country by going directly to insurance companies to purchase their third party motor vehicle insurance and not from the licensing office or by the road side.

Daniel also urged Nigerians to always patronise licensed insurance companies, agents and qualified brokers whenever they want to purchase insurance policy, stressing that the insurance policy is to guide against unforeseen occurrences.

The NAICOM boss assured Nigerians that the Commission will not relent in its drive towards ensuring the restoration of sanity and public confidence in the insurance industry. The arrested illegal operators, he said, would soon be arraigned at the law court in accordance with the provisions of the Insurance Act passed by the National Assembly.

Prior to the arrest, officials of NAICOM bought three Third Party motor insurance policies from the illegal operators who issued Industrial NEM insurance and Universal insurance companies’ Certificates and receipts at the sum of N2,000 and N3, 000 while the receipts reflect N5,000. Vanguard