Cameroon Riot Broke-out as Man wins $22 million on Sports betting company

There was chaos and unrest in Yaoundé, Cameroon, recently after a man reportedly won 13 billion CFA Francs ($22 million) on 1xBet but wasn’t paid.

However, the report gathered that the man played a bet with $350 (200,000 CFA Francs) and won the 13bn CFA Frans/22 million dollars, but rather than pay him the money, the sports betting company allegedly closed deleted his account.

When he visited the office to complain, they offered him $687,000 (400 million CFA Francs). He was said to have rejected it and demanded the original sum, but the betting company reportedly refused. The man went to inform people in his neighbourhood, which provoked youths, who then stormed the Sports betting centre. It erupted into a riot as youths were said to have wielded weapons demanding that the man be paid his 13 billion CFA Francs. It was such a mess that we witnessed such cases like this in Africa. Although the growth of the industry as experienced in the last couple of years as this might send a wrong signal to the sports betting industry limelight in the course of years ahead, we hope that a solution and regulatory body step into the issues by investigating and concluding at a point in time for trust issues.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, The Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it was investigating the death of a man identified as Adegbite, who allegedly committed suicide after losing N150,000 to sports betting. The incident happened in Pegi in the Kuje area council of Abuja in November. Adegbite was said to have placed a bet with the money his boss gave him to pay his colleagues, hoping to replace it after winning. One of his colleagues at work, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Adegbite committed suicide after he lost the money. He said, “We were surprised when it happened. He was given the money to pay some people at his place of work. The money was in the region of N150,000. He took the money to a sports betting shop and staked it. He selected some matches, but he did not win. Hoping he would win and pay back the money.

“The following morning, he was not seen by his neighbors. They noticed that he was inside; they broke the door open and found his body dangling on the ceiling fan. They alerted the police, who removed his body.”

The spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, DSP Josephine Adah, confirmed the incident. She, however, said the investigation was ongoing into the incident.

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