By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Two aggrieved customers of leading bookmaker in Nigeria, Bet9ja, Dennis Dickson and Orazurume Jude Mary, have called on the company to pay them their dues.
According to The Eagle Online, the customers are not happy with the “unprofessional behaviour” of the company.
Dickson stated that he has been deprived of his winning twice by the company, saying, “The first instance occurred during the 2018 World Cup, when I staked a bet with the company on the option that some selected players will not score more than 2 to 3 goals per match, all of a sudden after winning the ticket the company void it and said the option was meant to run for the whole of the tournament.
“The second time, I staked on some players that during the transfer window they will not change club without loan deals included, after winning my ticket the company on the 31st night of August 2018 changed the optioned and said that loan deals are also included. Whereas, a loaned player is still the property of the parent club and can be recalled at any time even before the expiration of the loan deal. “
Dickson stated that his tickets are: B93ECCWRTQZPE-675035 and B959ECCWERAWTT-68445.
Orazurume Jude Mary Tochi also stated that he played the game in Ekwulobia, Anambra State and the company reneged on the initial agreement that was reached earlier and that was not part of the initial agreement.
Tochi said: “I entered a bet with Bet9ja company under the category of transfer market with bet placed on whether a player would go on transfer to another club or not.
“Loan deal did not count at the time of this deal, but Bet9ja suddenly turned around and reversed the rule of the transfer market, stating that loan deal now counts after we agreed on transfer or no transfer.
“The sudden change was not acceptable as it was against the terms and conditions given to customers, after predicting players who will not change club.
“This amounted to N16,000,000 and N200,000.
“Two players are on loan, which is NOT transfer to the best of knowledge.
“Players on loan still belong to their parent. I went to my game its shows its lost, am not happy.”
Tochi gave his ticket number as B928SPPRCWPPSC-211061.
The Eagle Online reports that Bet9ja is an online bookmaker company that deals on major sporting events according to Alexa.com.
It is the second most visited website in Nigeria, only next to Google.com and it is owned by Kunle Soname, who is also its Chairman.
Soname is also the Chairman of Remo Stars Football Club.
It will also be recalled that three customers of Bet9ja had before now petitioned the National Lottery Regulatory Commission claiming the betting company had not paid the over N3 million stake owed them.
The petition was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria at the Zonal Office of the NLRC in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The petition was signed by the contact persons of the affected customers, Emmanuel Ajiboye.
The petition stated that the trio had entered into a bet with the company under the category of “Transfer Market”, with bets placed on whether a player would go on transfer to another club or not.
The petitioners said a “Loan Deals Do Not Count’’ transaction was confirmed in an email by Bet9ja on August 28.
They, however, expressed dismay that on August 31, Bet9ja “suddenly’’ turned around and reversed the rule of the transfer market by stating that “Loan Deals Now Count’’ as contained in a mail the same day.
The petitioners expressed the belief that this was done in order to renege on payment to customers who had played and were going to win.
They described the company’s “contradictory” statements as unprofessional by a leading bookmaker.
The aggrieved petitioners said it was in their knowledge that players on loans still belong to their parent clubs and could still be recalled before the end of their loan deal.
They said that the sudden change was not acceptable as it was against the terms and conditions given to customers.
The petitioners also threatened to explore legal action should Bet9ja refuse to respond favourably to their complaint.
They urged the commission to look into the development and ensure justice was done.
Yinka Salau, an official of the zonal office of the commission in Ilorin, confirmed the receipt of the petition.
He said the petition had been forwarded to the commission’s head office in Abuja for further investigation.
Salau explained that the management of Bet9ja would be invited to state its own side of the case.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale