The brutal reality of borrowing from loan sharks has negatively impacted on individuals who see such platforms as their go-to places for financial help.
Loan sharks are systems designed to break the borrower. This article provides insight on the human cost for these traps.
Imagine this: someone borrows N100,000 or N200,000 – maybe to pay hospital bills, maybe to keep their small business afloat, maybe just to feed their children. The terms seem simple at first. But miss a payment, delay by a week, and the interest begins to grow like wildfire.
Before they know it, that N200,000 has ballooned to N500,000. No renegotiation. No mercy. Further, threats and harassment follows, and the debt gets to feel like a death sentence. This cannot be called bad math but engineered cruelty.
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Even when the borrower manages to pay on time, the interest rates are usually outrageous. A loan of N100,000 might come with a repayment demand of N140,000 within a short time. Imagine N40,000 profit expected from someone already in crisis.
Let’s be honest: in today’s economy, where profit margins are razor-thin and survival is the goal, how realistic is it to expect someone to generate N40,000 in profit just to pay back a loan? It’s not just unrealistic – it’s wicked.
Loan sharks don’t care about your business. They don’t care about your family. They care about control. They care about fear.
The Psychological Trap
It’s not just financial. It’s emotional. Borrowers live in constant anxiety — afraid to pick up their phones, afraid to step outside, afraid of what tomorrow might bring. The shame, the fear, the isolation – it eats away at their dignity.
And the worst part? Many feel they have no choice. Traditional banks reject them. Friends and family are tapped out. So they turn to the only door that’s still open — the one that leads to a trap.
These aren’t just numbers. These are mothers, fathers, students, traders, artisans. People who work hard. People who dream. People who deserve better.
We must stop normalizing this exploitation. We must start calling it what it is: financial violence.
3 Things that Needs to Change
- Governments must crack down on predatory lending practices.
2. Communities need financial literacy programs that teach alternatives.
3. Microfinance institutions and ethical lenders must be empowered to serve the underserved.
But most importantly, we need empathy. We need to stop blaming the borrower and start questioning the system.
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If you’ve ever felt trapped by a loan shark, know this: you’re not alone. Your pain is valid. Your story matters. And change is possible. Keep ta-lking. Keep fighting. Keep believing in a world where lending doesn’t mean losing your soul.
