LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited on Sunday exempted itself from an online report captioned “Nigeria Microfinance Banks Chase Debtors as COVID Lockdown Cripples Businesses”, by Saharareporters.
A statement by the management of the bank stated that LAPO Microfinance Bank closed down its operations, credit operations inclusive, across Nigeria on Wednesdays, March 25, 2020 few days before the Lockdown directive for Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory and a full month before the said publication.
“For the notice of our clients and the public, the decision was widely publicised with a press statement in some national Newspapers; radio jingles were deployed in pidgin, Hausa and Yoruba. In addition, information banner was displayed on all our Social Media handles while bulk SMS were sent to our clients,” the statement reads.
LAPO Microfinance Bank has been distributing food items, mainly rice and tomatoes paste to its Clients across the country, to alleviate the obvious hardship caused by the crisis. Also, LAPO Microfinance Bank has also made cash contributions to two states to complement their ongoing efforts to provide palliatives to low-income Nigerians, a segment to which our clients belong, the statement said.
The statement further said all senior manager of LAPO Microfinance Bank and key field managers have been making thousands of telephone calls weekly, to our Clients checking on their well-being and educating them on COVID-19 precautions.
“We take strong exception to this attempt to ‘perfume’ lazy reportage on microfinance with the name of LAPO Microfinance Bank. Simple verification exercise would have been helpful and saved the online publication from speculation of unethical pecuniary motive”.
LAPO Microfinance remains committed to its over thirty 30 years ( first as a non-profit) old mandated of social and economic empowerment of low-income households in Nigeria and beyond, the statement said.
