Commission To Clampdown On Defaulting Betting Shops

There are strong indications that the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) will soon clampdown on sports betting outlets in the state.
The Tide was reliably informed by a senior official in the newly established NLRC office in Port Harcourt that with the opening of a zonal office in Rivers State there will be serious regulatory activities by the federal agency.
The official further said that over the years, sports betting had proliferated in the state hence the need to checkmate activities of fraudsters and other illegal activities of operator.
He said, “There are three areas of lottery the NLRC regulates and that include, promotional lottery, core lottery and sports betting, the aspect of sports betting has increased over the ears in Port Harcourt and Rivers State”.
The impeccable source further indicated that due to the swelling activities of sports betting shops, many citizens had been swindled as over five cases are being currently addressed by the commission.
“There is one case we are handling now”, the source said, “and it involves over N4 million because the winner could not be paid even after he won the game”.
He said, “The main operators are not the problem, but the agents to the commission want them to do the right thing. They tend not to pay when they are supposed to pay”.
He narrated a recent complaint where somebody won and because the money was huge, the shop owner closed and ran away”.
Due to the increasing criminal activities of many shop owners, the official counselled members of the public to be cautions in staking huge money in sports lottery.
He also urged members of the public who have one complaint or the other to make about lottery owners to forward such complaints to the office of National Lottery Regulatory Commission for adequate attention.

Kevin Nengia