NEOLIFE scam: Distributor suspended, three face arraignment

The Zone 5 Command of the Nigerian Police in Benin, Edo State, is set to arraign three suspects for allegedly deceiving job seekers with fake employment offers to work for a health and well-being company, NEOLIFE.

Also, the licence of an independent distributor in the state, allegedly linked to the fake job syndicate, has been suspended.

NEOLIFE, a United States of America-based wellness company, had vowed to unravel the gang offering fake employment to young individuals in the country using the firm’s name.

The organisation, operating in more than 50 countries globally, said its operations were based on global best practices with high regard for integrity as its pillars.

Scores of Nigerians, including students, were allegedly promised fake jobs and mouth-watering offers to work for NEOLIFE, which operates through partnerships with independent distributors and does not offer employment to individuals.

Following a discrete investigation by the company in collaboration with the police, a syndicate in the Edo State capital was uncovered to be allegedly involved in inviting candidates to attend fake job interviews in some locations.

A police source said, “At the interview venues, however, they start coaching them on how to market NEOLIFE products using all manners of tricks and at all costs. The job seekers are made to believe that they are working for NEOLIFE.

Once you get into the ‘interview’ sessions, no one is allowed to go out or use phones.

 A widow, who was invited to benefit from the distribution of a relief package in Benin, said she was prevented from leaving the hall after she discovered the organisers were talking about marketing of health products instead of the promised relief packages

The source added that the investigation revealed that a young lady, invited from Warri in Delta State to Benin to attend the purported interview session, allegedly got a rough deal.

“Trouble started when the lady insisted on seeing the person who had invited her for a job interview, whom she had spoken with on the telephone. The organisers said she could not see the person. In the course of the argument, the applicant claimed she was assaulted and her clothes torn,” the source stated.

While the Zone 5 police command said three people had been summoned and questioned, one of the principal suspects, who was also invited by the police, had fled after her invitation.

The Zone 5 PPRO, Tijani Momoh, confirmed the arrest of some persons connected with the job scam, noting that others were still at large.

He said, “I can confirm that some people who are connected to the fake job interviews have been arrested, while others are at large.

Operatives are on the heels of others who are involved in the case, and I am sure that they would be apprehended.”

The Vice President, Field Development of NEOLIFE, West Africa, Mr Olusanmi Asalu, stated that the investigations had been extended to different parts of the country to fish out those engaging in fraudulent recruitment in the name of the company.

Asalu said, “We don’t offer individuals jobs. We operate in partnership with independent distributors. So, how can anyone claim that he or she has worked for NEOLIFE for years when such a person was not employed by our company?”