By: Manoah Kikekon
The Apa area of Badagry was thrown into chaos on Thursday as a mob of enraged investors stormed and looted the physical office of the XM Future Music Group.
The local headquarters of the digital platform, popularly known as "XM," was stripped bare after the investment scheme reportedly crashed overnight, trapping billions of naira belonging to thousands of Nigerians.
Videos surfacing on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok show a frantic scene where residents and victims carted away office equipment. In a desperate bid to recoup their losses, looters were seen hauling out power generators, standing fans, upholstered chairs, television sets, and desktop computers, leaving the building an empty shell.
The XM Future Music Group lured Nigerians with a business model that seemed too good to be true and ultimately was. Promoters claimed that users could earn massive profits simply by listening to music and completing online tasks. To join, investors were required to pay a "work deposit," with entry packages starting at ₦21,600 and scaling up to a staggering ₦93 million.
The promises were astronomical. One viral advertisement for the scheme suggested that a premium investment of ₦21 million could yield ₦327 million in just 30 days.
"I thought it was a legitimate music promotion deal because they showed us documents from the US," lamented one victim identified as Jimmy. "But when the withdrawal button stopped working and the Telegram group was deleted, I knew we had been scammed."
The crash follows a familiar pattern in the world of fraudulent financial schemes. Within the last 24 hours, the XM platform became inaccessible, and official customer support channels were abruptly shut down.
Financial experts had previously warned about the platform's claims of being registered in Colorado, USA a common tactic used by scammers to build a veneer of international credibility.
"These schemes thrive on the desperation created by economic hardship," a financial analyst noted. "When you see promises of 100% returns in 30 days, it is not an investment; it is a countdown to a crash."