OLX’s reaction to the Orekoya boys kidnap will shock you (READ)

by Chinwe Okafor

We already criticised the fact that the mother of the three kidnapped Orekoya boys may have been careless enough to contract the kidnapper-nanny from a fraud prone platform, but we didn’t expect the administrators of the site would be unsympathetic about her plight.

Days after the unfortunate abduction, the e-commerce platform, OLX has spoken out on the incident.

The Country Manager, OLX Nigeria, Lola Masha, spoke on behalf of the company expressing deep concern in one tone and in another, she proved that they were indifferent to the happenings.

According to her statement, she wasn’t indeed worried one bit about the boys who are missing, but at the fact that it was on the company’s platform.

Seeing as these things happen everyday on their platform, her careless response isn’t exactly surprising.

Instead of showing a little empathy, she insisted that the online platform for e-Commerce business is still the best in Nigeria irrespective of what happened, and that the online transaction between the two women could happen in any other situation and on any online platforms and consequently, it is not peculiar to OLX.

The problem with her statement is the fact that she said: “To protect our customers, we have put several measures in place, to ensure such incidence does not repeat itself.”

Err… the last time a customer complained about OLX and being defrauded on the platform was barely days ago, and the first time was when the company came into town.

Another part of the statement we found offensive was when the country manager said, “We also have on our website, specific guidelines on how to transact safely online. We strongly advise users of our platform to follow the guidelines strictly in order to remain safe anytime they are transacting business online. They must also ensure that they do all the relevant background checks of persons that they are dealing with online, and also make sure they check the items they intend to buy before paying for the goods.”

The item here is a human being!

Even if the guidelines were followed, should the mother of the boys had gotten a caveat that these humans contracted could indeed not be real?

Or a guideline saying her boys would be kidnapped in 24 hours?

Or that there is a certain warranty on the human beings contracted on the platform till it is confirmed that they are genuine?

While it isn’t out-rightly anyone’s fault this happened, aside the two obvious crimes committed by both parties, but some human compassion from the company would suffice to say the least.

These are lives not items that are gone for now and hopefully would return.

We don’t expect miracles should be performed or OLX should produce the money needed to rescue the boys. They aren’t obligated in anyway to- plus this crime isn’t alien to the world. But this is a sensitive time for the parents and a little compassion is needed.

Especially as this isn’t the first time such unfortunate incident is happening on the OLX platform.

The first was in December 2014, where a nanny who was employed through the platform of OLX Nigeria, ran away with the employer’s child, but was later apprehended.

OLX needs to do better than this please.

CORRECTION:
OLX’s official statement was misquoted. Here is a correction,

This is an unfortunate situation and our sympathies go out to the victim and their family. OLX is an online classifieds site that brings buyers and sellers together to promote trade. We take steps to moderate and review all ads but we do not participate in the negotiations between buyers and sellers. Transactions are performed directly between both parties. In all our marketing campaign, we continuously urge our users to take necessary precautionary checks when using OLX.

We continue to innovate and improve our review process with tighter measures that would help to minimize future occurrence of negative incidents. We also need our users to help us kick out bad players and ask them to report any dubious activity or user on the site for immediate action. Our customer support team can be reached at 0700-CALL-OLX (0700-22-55-659) or at [email protected].

We sincerely hope that the 3 kids are returned safely to their loved ones. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and we will provide all help within our capacity to facilitate the quick reunion of the 3 children with their family.

Lola Masha
Country Manager

Comments (6)

  1. Nawa o Chinwe Okafor….there is nothing wrong with the manager’s statement.
    I’ll only advice Olx to be more professional with their platform,as it is, anybody can post anything and Nigerians are at the mercy of the seller irrespective of whatever is being advertised.I feel there should be a check on jobs and services placement on the platform, a small amount of money could be charged for that.I believe what is worth doing is worth doing well.
    Thanks.

  2. Sorry to mention that I have been a victim of such here on eBay and craiglist but not with such intensity through. It is a learning experience for all not to fully depend on ecommerce website for our decisions. Don’t get me wrong Ecommerce website is good and I still buy and sell on eBay and craiglist but I use common sense and do my homework each time to avoid fraud

  3. Olx is not different from any other e commercial companies, this kind of things happen on craiglist and eBay all the time. Anyone using ecommerce website should only be more careful and be vigilant. You should not get a total stranger into your home without doing your own homework such as background checks not talking about leaving your children with a stranger. I am glad the children are safe but the ecommerce website should not be blamed

  4. I think this is just a case of simple ‘misunderstanding’. How else would you want her to put it? She said it as it is and I’m not trying to be not empathetic. No. I feel the pain of the mother and I understand that it must be a trying time.
    OLX hasn’t been overtaken by fraudsters. Please don’t say things you are not sure of. I know people who have gotten legitimate deals through OLX.
    It’s like saying you’ll sue a newspaper or a social media platform simply because of an advert you saw there.
    Let’s just thank God that the children have been found.

  5. Well. They are right. They have a disclaimer and I have seen several of their adverts warning people. Please don’t whip up unnecessary sentiments. OLD like they said is a platform. Thank God the kids have been found.

  6. I really don’t bliv pple still visit this site,cos it’s bn taken over by fraudsters…..

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