8th February, 2011
Consumers in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, are not happy that the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) of Nigeria has no office in Lagos, a state with the largest number of consumers in the country.
CPC, is the apex consumer protection agency of the Federal Government established to promote and protect consumers’ interests, address their complaints, inform, educate and empower them (consumers) to act as discerning consumers.
Presently, the agency which has its headquarters in Abuja, has about six offices spread across the country. The nearest one to Lagos consumers is located in Osogbo in Osun State.
Consumers who spoke to Consumers’ Advocate said that it is not proper that CPC does not have an office in Lagos where they could go and lay their complaints.
A student of the Lagos State University, LASU, Nwaka Okafor, who was recently fell a victim to fraudsters through the Automated Teller Machine, ATM, said she has since been trying to find any CPC office in Lagos to no avail.
She said: “Last month, my account was debited to the sum of N25,000 my bank through the ATM. When I complained, my bank told me it was my fault as I may have compromised my pin. Since then, I have been trying to take the matter to CPC only to find out yesterday that the council has no office here in Lagos”
“It is just too bad that such an agency does not consider Lagos big enough to have an office where consumers can walk in and make their complaint,” he lamented.
A housewife, Theresa Akpan, who said she has once bought fake products wondered why CPC office should be in Osogbo and not Lagos which has the majority of consumers in the Southwest.
She said: “There is no good reason why CPC office should not be here in Lagos. Infact, its headquarters should have been located in Lagos. Consumers are being cheated everyday and there is no one to complain to. An agency like that that is supposed to protect consumers should be where majority of the consumers are reside.”
A civil servant, Bayo Idowu, claims that he has never heard about the agency and that if it exist, it should have strong presence in Lagos.
“I don’t even know wether there is an agency like that,” he told our reporter, adding; “Either that agency does not exist or it is not functioning very well. If such an agency does not have a presence in Lagos, then it just simple does not exist.”
Consumers’ Advocate appeals to the CPC, to open an office in Lagos to enable aggrieved consumers to bring their complaints to the agency.
Consumer with complaint can, however, reach the agency on their hotline: 08056003030.
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