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A young Nigerian man, Iriodalo (Odalo) Emmanuel Obhafuoso (AKA, OD), is trending on X after a lady accused him of fraudulently obtaining cash — purportedly for medical aid — from unsuspecting lovers and friends. The call-out has seen more people coming forward with their alleged encounters with Obhafuoso.
Here’s all we know about the matter so far.
Who is Iriodalo Emmanuel Obhafuoso?
A Google search for his name returns with a string of reports highlighting the recent allegations against him.
According to information gleaned from a yearbook page, he completed his senior secondary school education in 2014. Odalo highlighted meeting people, daydreaming and taking risks as his hobbies. He also mentioned making the Forbes list in the next 10 years.
One X account allegedly linked to him, @metaphourr, has been deactivated.
Why is he trending?
On October 11, 2023, a lady identified as Elsavanilla (@elsavanilla) shared pictures of Obhafuoso and accused him of fraudulently obtaining cash from unsuspecting friends and romantic interests.
Elsavanilla claimed he’d befriend his victims, “fall deathly ill”, and proceed to seek medical financial aid.
“This is Iriodalo Emmanuel Obhafuoso. He is a scammer. He enters girls dms, makes them comfortable talking to him and then proceeds to fall deathly ill. For me, he had heart surgery. For Bolu, he had spinal surgery.”
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According to her, Obhafuoso deactivated his X account (@metaphourr), which he used to communicate with her. Elsavanilla claimed she reached out to his friends to share her plight, but “none of them wanted anything to do with the situation at hand.”
— Elsavanilla is highly favoured (@elsavanilla) October 11, 2023
A trail of a fraudulent past
Elsavanilla’s call-out thread garnered over 2000 quote tweets. Some users on the platform came forward with their alleged encounters with Obhafuoso and how he tried to dupe them.
Bolu (@adefunkebola), the lady mentioned in Elsavanilla’s tweet, shared how he’d love-bombed her and began to have a “series of calamitous issues” that almost led her to give him money.
She, however, found out that he’d allegedly scammed one of her friends.
And voila, I found out that he had scammed one of my friends. I'm ready to provide receipts if that'll help bring him to book. A scammer.
In screenshots shared by another lady, @youloveesther, Obhafuoso complained about his health with a sense of urgency. He said he’d been diagnosed with a heart problem and needed to undergo a thrombectomy surgery.
At the moment, the only X account linked to him has been deactivated.
He seems to have vanished from the internet, as there’s been no word from him.
This is a developing story.
You’ll have your fill of grilled, peppered or fried meat and many more at Zikoko’s meat festival on November 11. Have you bought your Burning Ram ticket? You can do that real quick here.
On Wednesday, July 12, 2023, a UK-based Nigerian lady Olamide (@olly_ade) in a Twitter post, cried out about £20,400 allegedly owed to her by an ex-lover, Ajibola Odusanya. It turns out Odusanya has had prior run-ins with other people over the past few years.
Who is Ajibola Odusanya?
Ajibola’s Twitter bio says little about him but a search of his full name on Google returns a string of articles showing that he was arraigned in court for fraud-related cases in March 2021. A similar search on Twitter returns with several call-outs from individuals he scammed.
According to information shared by one of his victims, @sirjarus, Ajibola schooled in the United Kingdom and once landed a job in an investment management firm. “His profile and brilliance could get him a decent finance career in corporate Lagos.”
Very brilliant young guy. Schooled in the UK. Solid profile that got him a job in a nice investment management firm in Lagos (before he was sacked).
His profile & brilliance could get him a decent Finance career in corporate Lagos. I don’t know why he chose this path of…
On July 12, 2023, Olamide, a UK-based Nigerian lady who was dating Ajibola before things turned sour shared a tweet, in which she asks “How can such a young guy be so cold, callous, vindictive, arrogant and lack empathy so much?”. This was followed by a staggering revelation that Ajibola owes her £20,400.
In a different tweet, Olamide claims Ajibola had been evading payment and coming up with several excuses to buy time. She, however, soon realised he was “taking her for a fool.”
Shortly after pouring out her mind on her TL, Olamide’s post made it into public discourse, with many Twitter users trying to understand the rationale behind lending so much money to a lover in such a short while.
Why will you borrow anyone £20,000 talk more of a man you just met. 💀💀💀
— Alhaja Ego Oyinbo💷💶💵 (@zexzy_intrepid) July 13, 2023
She, however, had WhatsApp chat evidence to back up her claims.
According to her, she and Ajibola entered into a relationship when she was just 23 and willing to give her all. In her words, “She trusted him beyond human comprehension.”
Four years before she met Ajibola, Olamide had been saving heavily with the hopes of one day making a down payment for a house, but she trusted him enough to lend him all she’d saved.
In April 2019, a Twitter user, @osekita, shared pictures of Ajibola on the platform, while accusing him of fraud. @osekita said Ajibola’s attempt was unsuccessful but accused him of scamming other victims and “changing identity frequently”.
Ds is ajibola odusanya a very terrible heartless scammer extremely nice & kindly disposed initially will turn very very deadly & dangerous when u do not fall for his scam he has scammed quite a number of people on Twitter He came after me but failed! Changes identity frequently! pic.twitter.com/Sl0Ex08lzN
— #DERANGED HOPELESSNESS #NOTRENEWED #PRAYFORNIGERIA (@Osekita) April 21, 2019
In August of the same year, Twitter user, @despatraa shared a tweet hinting at her experience with Ajibola and how a “borrowing man” is a red flag.
Any man I’m involved with that’s borrowing any amount of money from me , I’m running . Ajibola Odusanya taught me well already
These accusations were followed by Ajibola’s arraignment in court in March 2021, where he faced a two-count charge of fraud and theft. He landed in court after allegedly defrauding two friends of ₦880,000. Ajibola pleaded not guilty to both offences. A Chief Magistrate, Mrs O.O. Oshin, granted him bail in the sum of ₦250,000 with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case.
@despatraa returned in January 2022. Her message was simple: “Please, run hard from Ajibola Odusanya. He’s a scammer.”
This bastard is still playing these foolish games.
Another victim, @teinm, took to Twitter in November 2022, tagging the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Lagos State Police command, Ben Hundeyin. @teinm claimed Ajibola duped her of over ₦400k.
@BenHundeyin one Ajibola Omoyosola Odusanya duped me of over 400k. How and where can I report this?
A video currently making the rounds on the internet captures a young man, who identifies himself as Ajibola Odusanya, confessing to carting away ₦420k.
@detoke on Twitter claims the last time Ajibola was locked up for scamming people, his mum said, “They should leave him to die there and feed his body to the dogs.”
The last time he scammed people and they locked him up, his mum said they should leave him to die there and feed his body to the dogs. You know how frustrated a Nigerian mother must be to say that to her son? That’s how much this wereh boy has frustrated the poor woman.
In light of Olamide’s callout, more allegations have sprung up from Twitter users who have had run-ins with Ajibola in the past.
Sir Jarus, a real estate business mogul, details three encounters with Ajibola and how he didn’t fall for the third which would have had him lose thousands of pounds.
This thing is real. Jibola sabi talk sha.
The only one I didn’t fall for was the day he called me during Covid (when there used to be all manner of screening protocols at the airports) and said his brother just arrived at Lagos Airport and he needed to send money to him. But he… https://t.co/Q5XvYMxPLF
In a WhatsApp chat with Jarus, Ajibola begs for forgiveness, admits his greed and offered to refund the money.
We met on Twitter 3 years ago. I saw from your engagements of my tweets that you were a brilliant young man working in a decent firm and you had almost everything needed to do well (schooled in the UK, young, brilliant etc)
Jarus claims there’s a WhatsApp group of Ajibola’s victims.
Welcome to the Association of Victims of Ajibola Odusanya 😀
There is actually a Whatsapp group of his victims, I just didn’t join
Boy used mentee kinikan to enter me and I took him under my arms here – from brilliant comments on TL, to my DM to phone talk. He used “egbon” to… https://t.co/sW8pMcWrRD
Another lady, @zeechy, claims Ajibola has also scammed her friend. She shares screenshots of an alleged conversation with him, where he asks for an item to be paid for with a promise to refund the money spent. In a different portion of the conversation, Ajibola says, “He’s sorry for everything.”
nigga has scammed my friend as well, just know this man is playing with you all on that space pic.twitter.com/HgK5KGOL5m
In a Twitter Space that was held on July 13, Ajibola admitted to Olamide’s allegations but accuses her of being unable to “keep track of her own stories.”
He categorically states that he took money from Olamide but didn’t scam her, and plans to pay her what she is owed. It was also agreed upon that the total amount owed was £17,100. Ajibola called for another Space to be held on Monday, July 17, by which time he would have repaid Olamide’s money.
Ajibola met up with a Nigerian man, Mr Swish, who held him at his shop with the cash he planned to use in offsetting part of the debt.
A few minutes after 9pm WAT on Thursday, July 13, Blanco, who had earlier promised to help Olamide recover her money, met up with Ajibola and Mr Swish to collect the cash.
Of the agreed upon £17,100 owed, Ajibola was able to refund £11,500 in cash on that day. Blanco shared a video where she was seen confirming the amount received with a money-counter. She also went with Olamide to deposit £5000 in her bank account.
These are not the best times for the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT). In an exclusive report by Bloomberg, it has been revealed that BAT’s son, 37-year-old Oluwaseyi Tinubu, has gotten himself in the mud by acquiring property linked with fraud.
[Seyi Tinubu (L) with dad, Bola Tinubu (R) / Twitter]
What’s the gist?
According to corporate documents seen by Bloomberg, Oluwaseyi, a principal shareholder for Aranda Overseas Corp. —an offshore company— paid $10.8m to Deutsche Bank for a property in St. John’s Woods, north London, in late 2017. Buying property overseas is not in itself the issue. The trouble here is that the Nigerian government wanted to confiscate this particular one Seyi bought. Its former owner, Kolawole Aluko —an associate of former petroleum minister Dieziani Madueke— was suspected of having acquired it with proceeds from crime.
In June 2016, a federal judge in Abuja granted a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to seize more than a dozen properties that Aluko owned in Nigeria and overseas, including the one in St. John’s Wood. That forfeiture order was still in effect when Seyi bought the house 16 months later.
To provide a basic analogy, it’s like going to Computer Village in Ikeja to buy a phone. You have the option of buying from any of the registered phone dealers. Instead, you buy from a suspected thief the police are after, maybe because you think you’d get it cheap. But what complicates matters is you’re not just anybody — you’re the president-elect’s son.
Essentially, while Buhari’s government was, in the public eye, going after allegedly corrupt persons in the previous administration, behind the scenes, their properties were being reacquired in offshore deals.
Neither BAT’s, nor Seyi’s spokespersons responded to Bloomberg for comments. Aluko’s lawyer also declined, saying the matter was “sub judice”, i.e. a matter still in court and could not be discussed. Deutsche Bank also refused to comment. However, Bloomberg did note that this apartment was what BAT used to receive Buhari in August 2021 when the president came to visit.
Whether the president-elect or his son will respond to these allegations in the coming days remains to be seen. But we cannot overlook that BAT’s list of scandals is piling up by the day. Carrying that kind of baggage not only bodes poorly for him but for the reputation of Nigeria — if he gets sworn in. With 27 days left till May 29, we wonder what other controversies BAT has for us.
This is Zikoko Citizen’s Game of Votes weekly dispatch that helps you dig into all the good, bad, and extremely bizarre stuff happening in Nigeria and why they’re important to you.
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As Nigerians, we’ve accepted that a lot of things will never happen: the price of fuel dropping back down to ₦87 per litre and Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), attending a presidential town hall.
While we were wondering what else could surprise us, Tinubu dropped another hit this week when he participated in a town hall event at Chatham House, London.
We still don’t understand why he went overseas in the first place after months of ignoring requests from the local media, or why he decided to show his class teacher skills on a global stage by delegating questions thrown at him to his political surrogates, but another interview of him with the BBC dropped the following day on December 6, 2022.
And although this time, he surprisingly went through the interview with no slips of “Balablu” or “PD…APC”, his responses showed he was tired of our endless questions.
When asked if he was getting a share of Lagos’ revenue, he responded that he had been investigated and, at this point, those still with doubts should bring proof. And when asked to explain the source of his wealth to Nigerians who want clarification, his answer was simple:
Despite the second-hand international disgrace we received at Chatham House this week, at least we know now to never say never. Maybe there’s a chance the price of fuel might come down in our near future too.
What Else Happened This Week?
ICPC Wants The Koko Master To Sing
Does anyone remember N-Power? In 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari set up the scheme to fight unemployment. Young graduates were trained, engaged and paid a stipend between ₦10k to ₦30k.
Unfortunately, some government officials diverted some of these funds to the accounts of ghost workers. Years later, anti-corruption officials are accusing Nigerian music star, D’banj, of collaborating with these officials.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) invited him multiple times to talk, but he refused to show up.
This triggered the ICPC to demand his arrest, whether in Nigeria or abroad. The Koko Master turned himself in on December 6, 2022, and has been detained, interrogated, and denied bail because he’s considered a flight risk. The commission has plans to charge him to court soon and he’ll have to tell everyone the koko.
Have you seen this video?
Everyone is trying to japa from Nigeria, but you probably don't want to escape through any of these ways. pic.twitter.com/ObEf1LHZBH
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), finally released his manifesto. Is it convincing enough to earn your vote next year?
Ehen, one more thing…
With Meffy’s new cash policy, it’s now impossible to withdraw more than ₦100k weekly and also, only ₦200 notes will be loaded in ATMs. At this point, it’s difficult to tell if Nigerian policies are made to improve our lives or to see just how much trouble we can endure. Here’s how the policy can really affect you.
Ponzi schemes pop up every few years in Nigeria before disappearing again with billions of naira in people’s funds. We spoke to seven Nigerians about the times they fell victim to these schemes.
Joshua. 25
“I thought if it had been paying my friend for so long, it had to be be legit somehow”
I lost my job in 2020 due to the COVID lockdown and started looking for other means of making money. A friend of mine had been investing with this forex investment scheme for about six months, and he was being paid 20% every month. He’d tried to get me into it, but I was skeptical.
After I lost my job, I needed money to come in from somewhere. I already had about ₦3 million saved up, so I thought to take some risk with the investment scheme my friend was into. I was still skeptical, but I thought if it had been paying him for so long, it must be legit somehow. So, I put ₦1 million into the scheme in October 2020 and I was paid a ₦200,000 return in November.
The following month, they started having issues with paying out. They said the markets were down, but they had enough reserves to keep up with payments. LMAO. Nobody saw anything. After two months of nothing, people went to the head office of the firm to protest, and it was empty. That’s when everyone got to know what had happened. We’d been scammed.
We eventually saw videos of the main guy who was the face of the business on the internet. Man was on vacation. I eventually got a much better job in March 2022, so I recovered.
Dapo, 22
“I saw my friend make ₦104,000 within two weeks after investing only ₦13,000. At this point, the pressure started getting wesser”
There was a stupid Ponzi scheme in my school one time that everyone knew was a scam but we somehow rationalised it as “investment”. It was called Loom.
Loom had the structure of a bunch of concentric circles, just like this.
The whole point was that there’s a race to the center of the circle, and how fast you moved depended on how many new people you signed up. These new people would “invest” some money, and that funded the exit of older members. Once the outermost circle gets filled with eight people, the person at the center cashes out and leaves the loom so others can move up. These schemes were peer-to-peer and ran on Whatsapp groups.
When I first heard of it, I thought it was clearly stupid. But it quickly became popular in my school as people were investing as little as ₦13,000 to cash out ₦104,000 in the space of a few weeks. The pressure was hot. My friend changed his phone within a week of joining the scheme, and at that point I just thought, “Well, it’s just ₦13,000. Let me do it too.”
I think I probably have very badluck when it comes to get-rich-quick schemes because when everybody was doing it, they were eating good. But the week I joined, the admin of the group closed the group and all our money disappeared. I haven’t gotten an explanation till today. It burnt me because that was supposed to be a part of my allowance, but I moved on sha.
Jane, 24
“MMM promised me 30% returns, and I said ‘take my hostel fees’.”
You know how you get into university and you’re high on the amount of money you just started getting from home? That was me in 2016. I’d just started school and MMM was the popular thing. It wasn’t even just among students. I had way older cousins who did this thing. But never felt the need to do anything because I had money.
My second semester started and money got a bit tight at home. I went from collecting ₦50,000 to collecting ₦25,000 every month. I started running out of cash too soon and found myself needing more before the month was up. That’s when I had a conversation with my friend who put some of her hostel fees into it and made about ₦60,000 in profit after a month. That was a 30% return on ₦200,000. My brain lit up. I decided I was going to do it too.
My hostel fees for the second year came early, and I put it all into MMM. This was around November 2016. In December, they stopped paying out money to people. The site became slower, people started panicking because they thought it would crash, and they were right. I lost all the money I put in without making ₦1. And on top of that, I was going to be homeless.
Ruth, 27
“I knew it was a Ponzi scheme from the start, but I just wanted to cashout before it crashed”
I joined Racksterly in 2019 before they crashed and came back to life as Racksterli. It was clear to me that it was a Ponzi scheme from the start. But I just thought I had to be smart about joining them. I’m usually on the lookout for these things.
The hack is to join when it’s early and leave when the hype starts gaining momentum. That’s what I did with the first one. I put in ₦1,200,000 and earned daily rewards for doing tasks like sharing an ad on Facebook. At the end of the month, I got ₦1.6 million in total. I reinvested my capital and did this for about five months before deciding I’d had enough. By that time I’d made over ₦2 million in profit alone.
In 2021, I joined Racksterli with about ₦2.8 million with the same plan and same calculations. I thought I’d be able to make it big before it went bust. LMAO. My calculations were off. The site blew up really quickly because they started using artists and influencers to promote the site. Within two months, problems started.
People couldn’t withdraw their money, and it went viral online. That further fuelled the fear of people who’d put money in it and everything just scattered.
I knew I had messed up, but I didn’t bother trying to get my money.
It’s been a year and nobody has gotten their money back. I know I was greedy sha. I should have just enjoyed the money I made the first time and moved on.
Elvis, 32
“I thought I should take small risk and succeed”
Sometimes, looking for money too much makes you lose money. I did a crypto investment thing in October 2021. I wanted to “blow” and I felt like I was running out of time. So I thought I should take a small risk and succeed. That’s when I took most of the savings I had, ₦1.2 million, and put it in a crypto investment scheme that I found on a Telegram channel. They said I’d get 20% returns every month, and I could withdraw my capital whenever I felt like it.
I invested in the thing, and I got a 20% return after thirty days. That was about ₦240,000. I was already gingered for more. I kept my money in and we did this for about 5 months. By this time, I had already put in an additional ₦1 million. I was basically reinvesting all the money I had made, as per, investor wey sabi.
When the market crashed around May/June, they started delaying payments. Some people received their pay while others didn’t. I thought it was normal. Until one time when one angry investor actually sent a message on the Telegram group asking everyone who hadn’t been paid to signify. I did that and left my phone for a bit. When I came back 30 minutes later, I had over 200 hundred messages from the group alone. I just knew everything had scattered. An argument started in the group between the members and admins, and they eventually just closed the group and deleted everything else. I took my L and moved on.
Chika, 35
“I was looking for something to invest in, but I didn’t like my options”
My case was funny because I saw an ad online in 2021 and actually went to look for these people. I was looking for something to invest my money in, and I didn’t like my options at the time. Mutual funds were offering 10% annually, bonds were doing 5%, and I didn’t understand crypto. But there was an agro-investment “company” that was promising 30% returns on a monthly basis for any investment I made. It looked like a sweet deal, and a part of my brain thought it made sense because it’s agriculture.
The firm eventually went bust after 3 months, and I lost around ₦5 million. I took my L and moved on. It was a lot of money, but I knew better than to stress over something I’d never get back.
Right now, if I want to invest in anything and someone says 30% monthly ROI beside me, we’ll fight.
Jamal, 27
“Everything about it was giving Ponzi, but I didn’t mind”
I was introduced to 86FB by a friend. It was supposed to be an investment platform that focused on football, but everything about it was giving Ponzi. The main gist was that I’d be earning 3% interest daily, and that could translate into a lot of money depending on how much I put in. So I decided to do it with a little amount of money. I initially put in ₦10,000, but because I wanted more profit, I increased my investment to ₦100,000. My plan was to double the money and withdraw the profit. But when I’d doubled it and the thing hadn’t crashed, I reinvested the whole thing.
The problem started with payment delays. I hadn’t been paid for about three days after requesting withdrawals. Then, they cancelled withdrawals. Last last, I made ₦600,000 that I couldn’t withdraw, and I lost my initial investment.
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Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.
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The 25-year-old on this week’s #NairaLife works as a guidance counsellor at his parents’ school for ₦100k a month. But before that, he did a lot for money, including selling pure water, thrifting clothes and fraud.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
The ₦1k popsi gave me for an excursion in JSS 1. I was about 10 or 11 then. Before that, I only got money on Sundays to put in the offering basket at church.
Basically, my parents were strict with money.
Do you know why?
Because we had everything we needed. My life was home—school—church. My parents owned the primary and secondary school I went to, and we lived close to it, so there was no need for them to give me transport fare. Whenever we went for excursions — local or international — I was with my parents, so I got gifts not cash. The school served food every break time, and I could take ₦50 worth of snacks from the tuck shop every day. I had no need for money.
After the JSS 1 ₦1k, I started getting money during school trips. Some rands in South Africa, cedis in Ghana and dollars in the US. The highest I ever got was $100 in SS 1. In SS 1, I also moved to boarding school because most of my friends were there, and I got the school “cheque book” money. I finished it on snacks every term until I graduated.
Did you get an allowance in university?
I didn’t go to uni until 2017, two years after I finished secondary school.
Why?
The simple truth — my parents didn’t want me to travel abroad for uni so they stalled until I just went to a Nigerian university.
What did you do?
I’m what you’d call a child with a coconut head. I was always getting into trouble in school, and they didn’t want me to go abroad and disgrace them.
My three older siblings went abroad immediately after secondary school and are still there now, so it was only natural I went.
First, they made me write Cambridge and TOEFL exams, then they made me get my transcripts, then the waiting started. While I was waiting, they suggested I worked in their school so I wasn’t idle.
Work as what?
An auditor of some sort. They taught me how to balance accounts, send bills to parents and sell books in the bookshop.
I started in September 2015 and worked for free until January 2016 when they moved me to the boarding school to be receptionist, balancer of books, assistant hostel master and night prep teacher. That’s when they started paying me ₦10k monthly. My father said it was ₦10k because the school was already housing and feeding me, and I was doing it for the experience. At some point, I became a Primary 6 class teacher teaching every subject.
Did the money ever increase?
Nah. That’s all the money I made for the two years before university. Well, except for the times I made money from dogs.
Tell me about it
We had two imported pure-bred dogs people want to mate their dogs with.
I reached out to people to say I wanted to help them mate their dogs for money. My major client was my vet who would tell me the female dog miscarried or the puppies died at birth. This happened so many times that I’m sure he was lying so he wouldn’t have to give me the puppy or share the money he got from selling it. I eventually got two clients by myself whose dogs gave birth, and I got a puppy each. The first one, I sold at ₦15k and gave my dad the money. The second, I sold for ₦25k and kept the money.
I’m pretty sure dogs aren’t that cheap
LMAO. They’re not. Especially since they were quality pups. I was just desperate for money and willing to sell at any price.
So, university?
Yes, but let’s talk about when I ran away from home first.
It was two months before I was going to resume at the Nigerian private university, and it hit me again my parents had finessed me out of studying abroad. I was irritated. One night, I went out, and for the first time, I didn’t return home until 4 a.m. I’d never even gone out at night before, talkless of not returning home the same day.
When I got home, the gateman let me into the compound, but my dad didn’t let me into the house until late in the evening. Me, I was kuku looking for an opportunity to rebel before. I just packed my clothes and went to stay with a friend in UNILAG.
For how long?
One month. She took care of me throughout. Also, I met a guy who would eventually become my business partner.
It sha took an uncle to bring me back home.
What did you study in school?
I got admitted to study biology, but the time I spent as a teacher and school administrator made me realise I actually wanted to be a counsellor, so I could guide people, especially children. I got a change of course form to study guidance and counselling psychology instead. But in my school, you can’t study education alone, so I chose a minor in biology.
What was uni like?
Omo, I balled. Remember my business partner guy? He sold thrift sportswear to me when I was shopping for school. He told me he was looking to sell to private school students too. So I took a ₦50k loan from my dad and bought sports gear from him at far cheaper than his retail price. I’d also spent ₦30k on clothes for myself before uni. I added all of it and sold them to students in my school.
If I bought something for ₦2k, I sold it for ₦6k. Every Sunday, I was at the sports centre selling clothes and yoga mats. In hostels, I went from room to room. I sold out so fast.
I got only guys’ sportswear at first, but I learnt quickly that women are the best customers. Guys would haggle, owe me, and after some time, just say, “My guy, fashi the money.” But women paid. So I got more stuff for women.
I also sold pure water one semester.
How?
Pure water in the kiosks near the hostels was ₦200 per bag, but ₦90 per bag at the on-campus mall. I got a keke rider to help me bring bags from the mall to the hostels and sold from room to room at ₦200. At least, they didn’t have to go outside to the kiosk to buy water.
Did you receive an allowance from home?
Yes. During my first year, it was ₦5k monthly. ₦10k during my second year. But I didn’t need the money. I just used it to buy favours. I spent ₦5k – ₦10k a month on drinks for security guards, credit for cleaners and the cafeteria staff, so you can be sure I got favours all the time. For example, I never had to line up for food.
Hmm…
Another way I balled was by scamming my parents.
Sir?
A lot of people in my school did it. We found a way to tamper with fees, so I added like ₦300k to it. Till today, my parents don’t know.
Wait, every year?
Nah. Just in my second and third year.
What did you use all the money for?
Nothing sensible. First of all, my guys and I ate well. Then I checked out of school early after semesters ended to rent guest houses with my guys and host parties with babes. Just stupid stuff like that. New phones too.
Maybe it’s because everyone was doing it, but I didn’t feel bad about it.
What happened next?
I carried over a semester. After my final semester in April 2021, I had to take an extra one because I missed a full semester’s exams in my second year.
How do you miss an entire semester’s exams?
I was sad. Talk of the entire family moving to Canada came up that year. We even did medicals. Eventually, it fell through. But when the subject of my university education came up, my dad said even if they relocated, I wouldn’t move with them. That’s when he came clean that he couldn’t let me go abroad for school.
Between being sad and angry, I decided not to write exams that semester and got all Fs. When I showed my dad the results and told him it was because I was depressed, his response was, “Kini depression?” He got angrier and promised me there was no chance I was going abroad.
I just accepted my fate and continued school.
Mad. What does an extra semester after graduating feel like?
It was embarrasing. I didn’t stay on campus because I didn’t want to have to tell people why I was still around. So I stayed with a friend in a hotel near school for ₦2k a night. She paid ₦1k; I paid ₦1k. Most of my classes were online so I didn’t have to go to campus often.
My fees for that semester was about ₦500k. I paid ₦300k before the semester started. The remaining ₦200k was still with me by June when a cousin convinced me to use it to play sports betting.
Uh-oh
First, we played the ₦200k and won ₦430k. Then I used ₦150k to play another game. I lost it. So obviously, I had to try again with the remaining money, and I lost everything.
What did you do?
I left school and went to my uncle’s house to panic and think about my life. Where would I see ₦200k? I stayed there so long, he called my mum to tell her I wasn’t in school. She asked him to kick me out.
A couple of days before I left his house, a childhood friend reached out to me out of the blue to say hi. In my vulnerable state, I told him everything I was going through, and he invited me to stay with him.
When I got to his place, he told me how he made his living — fraud.
This guy
He stayed with his friend who also did fraud, and in that house, they had four boys they were training in fraud. He didn’t live a flashy life. He just used his fraud money to plan out his life. He was even processing japa plans. He had the ₦200k to give me, but he said he wanted me to make it myself.
Through fraud?
Yep. So he taught me how to create a clone celebrity account to scam people.
Verification badge and all?
Nah. The scope was to tell people I was the celebrity, but I didn’t want to chat with my real account because I just wanted to have a lowkey conversation with my real fans. It’s not hard to follow what celebrities are doing on social media. I could easily track where they were, what they were doing, and use it in conversations.
Plus, I’m a psychologist. I know how to talk to people.
How long did you do this for?
One month. I made ₦1.3m from the one person I successfully scammed. She was a woman in her late 50s. I took ₦500k and gave my guy the rest of the money. I didn’t really want it.
How did you feel about it?
Guy, I felt terrible. I couldn’t sleep. I had to keep getting high to escape reality. I paid my school fees, fixed my car and kept the rest.
Think you’re going to do it again?
Oh no. Never. Never ever.
What did you do after university?
Since November 2021, I’ve worked at my parents’ school as a guidance counsellor.
What’s that like?
I’m enjoying it. Sometimes, it’s challenging because I’m working with my former teachers, and we’re at each other’s throats on how to handle the students. They want to be harsh and flog students. I don’t agree.
How much do you earn?
₦100k per month.
How do you spend it in a month?
What debt?
In 2020, I bought my mum’s old car for ₦1.2m with a loan from the microfinance bank the family and school use. The bank removes ₦50k from my salary every month.
Gotcha. What are your plans for the future?
I’m trying to go abroad for a master’s in either sports psychology, child psychology or guidance and counselling. I’m already saving towards it. I currently have ₦160k.
When do you think you’d have enough money?
My target is next year. I plan to go to a European country where tuition is cheap. With ₦5m, I should be able to sort everything out. That’s flight tickets plus full tuition and accommodation. I’ll take another loan when I finish paying this one and pay back gradually when I start working abroad.
What’s something you want but can’t afford right now?
Almost everything. All I have money for is feeding and repairing my car. Maybe I’ll do Uber with it when I finish fixing it.
But I’m thankful for my babe. We’ve been dating for three months and she buys data for me and sends money every single time I’m stranded.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
If my babe was not in my life, it would be a 3. But she’s here. I have data, I live with my parents, I’m not hungry, so it’s a 9. I’m sure this is a phase and it’ll pass.
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We already know the life of DCP Abba Kyari is a movie. What we don’t know for certain is just how many parts of it we’re going to have to watch. Is it even just a movie at this point? Because it’s running for long enough to qualify as a mini-series with the potential for an unplanned second season.
The last time we talked about Kyari, he was a fresh boy in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). But before we talk about what’s new, it’s useful to do a quick recap of his life over the past eight months.
From grace to grass
Abba Kyari was a celebrated “supercop” until the nosy Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from faraway United States of America stumbled across a huge skeleton in his closet.
It wasn’t any one of his many awards of excellence.
What the FBI found was that Kyari’s team had arrested one Kelly Chibuzo Vincent on January 20th, 2020 and detained him till February 25th, 2020. What’s controversial about Nigerian policemen arresting anyone and keeping them for longer than the law allows without charging them to court? Well, Vincent’s one-month imprisonment was arranged from Dubai by Ramon Abbas, aka Ray Hushpuppi. You may remember him as the now-convicted international fraudster with the glossy Instagram page.
The FBI discovered that Kyari’s arrest of Vincent helped Hushpuppi to succeed in scamming a Qatari businessperson of $1.1 million.
He was immediately suspended and investigated by Police authorities to determine if to send him to America to answer for his crimes. But the investigation was taking too long, and we assume Kyari was bored of being idle, which is (probably) why he went and got new skeletons to stuff in his closet.
On January 21st, 2022, Kyari called an NDLEA officer in Abuja to tell him his team had arrested suspects who were smuggling 25 kg of cocaine. We’ve told this story before and you can read all about it here, but the short version of the gist is he resold a large portion of the seized drugs and offered NDLEA a cut. It’s the kind of deal that would make Pablo Escobar proud.
But some haters at the NDLEA didn’t like his audacity, so they declared him wanted on February 14th, 2022. It was the day of love but the NDLEA said:
So, what’s new with Abba Kyari?
Many Nigerians have been debating the Federal Government’s willingness to extradite a high-ranking police officer to answer for crimes in America. The longer the investigation took, the more conspiracy theories were created.
But on March 3rd 2022, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, gave the green light for Kyari to relocate to the land of the free and home of the brave. Very likely in chains.
There was just one problem — Abba Kyari was already sitting in a cell courtesy of the NDLEA. And when the agency heard about the extradition case going green, it quickly announced that it had already filed charges against him in court. The agency then quickly clarified that the charges had been filed a week before the announcement.
Please note that the charges against Abba Kyari and 6 others were filed by @ndlea_nigeria since Monday 28th February 2022, the case since assigned to a judge with arraignment fixed for Monday 7th March at FHC 8 Abuja
The clarification was in reaction to Twitter detectives that were speculating that Kyari’s drug case is an elaborate scam to keep him in Nigeria. Dealing with a local case, which is already in court, is sure to complicate extradition. Charity begins at home, after all. Section 3 of Nigeria’s Extradition Act provides for an extradition to be rejected if the suspect has a pending criminal case in Nigeria. It makes you wonder if Kyari got himself entangled in another criminal case just to delay or abort that trip to America. Because doing drug deals while suspended from police work sounds like a crazy thing to do. But it appears like another Friday in the life of Supercop Kyari.
During his first court appearance on March 7th, 2022, Abba Kyari pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His lawyers then begged the judge to allow him to remain in NDLEA custody pending his bail application hearing on March 14th, 2022.
So it’s clear that he doesn’t want to go to Kuje Prison, where we imagine he’d get an uncomfortable reunion party with people he put there in his past life as a supercop. But we bet he doesn’t want to go to America either because of what looks like a clear case against him there.
It’s uncertain to say where the supercop’s case ends, and the suspense of it all is why everyone keeps watching The Abba Kyari Show.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional, and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
Today’s subject on Abroad Life talks about moving to Malaysia to get an education but meeting something totally different: a life where he had to evade cultists and fraudsters who needed his programming services for high-end crimes.
When did you decide you wanted to leave Nigeria?
2013. I was in my third year of university studying pharmacy when I got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore studying in a Nigerian university. Everything was wrong. The lecture halls were always too crowded, the lecturers weren’t actually imparting knowledge, and I got frustrated. I told my parents I wanted to drop out, and they understood my frustration and supported my decision.
Where did you go?
Malaysia, because getting a visa was easy and education was cheaper than most other countries. My parents agreed, and the agent did all the processing for me. He even picked the school for me. All I did was tell him the course I wanted to study — software engineering. I left that same year.
Tell me your first thoughts about Malaysia.
It was exciting because it was a more advanced place than Nigeria. I remember being excited to use the trains for the first time in my life. My school didn’t have hostels so I got an apartment alone outside school and settled in.
Almost immediately after I started going to school, I realised something that unsettled me.
What?
My school wasn’t a serious school. It was just a front for people, mainly Nigerians, to come into Malaysia and have student visas. There were classes, assignments and exams, but you could decide not to do any of that and pay your way through. Lecturers hardly came to class. Many times, I had just one class in the space of two weeks.
The majority of the school’s population comprised of Nigerians who were fraudsters, so the school had gotten used to being a visa refuge for them. You’d see people who wore $5,000 chains and drove insanely expensive cars on campus, and that would give you the full picture.
Foreign education in the mud.
It was utterly disappointing. On the bright side, through personal study, I got really good at the things I was meant to be learning in school and people noticed, so just two months after I got to Malaysia, I started doing school assignments and projects for people. I was doing assignments for $150, and projects for $1,500. There was another Nigerian also doing the same.
What do you mean by projects?
I was building software for people.
Tech daddy.
I still wasn’t happy though. I was in Malaysia to primarily get an education, not to hustle, so as much as I didn’t mind making $2,500 a month, what I really wanted was to go to school.
After six months, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore, so I transferred to another school. The school I transferred to was much better. I could learn and focus on my studies.
Were you still doing assignments and projects for people?
I was, but the frequency reduced after some time because my new school was far, and students from my old school didn’t want to come all the way to explain their assignments. After some time though, business picked up aggressively again because the other Nigerian who offered the same services just upped and left for Nigeria.
Interesting. What was your life like in the new school?
I didn’t have a social life because I was always busy with school work or assignments so I stayed at home a lot. I also didn’t roll with Nigerians a lot because the Nigerians I met in Malaysia were involved in fraud, drugs and cultism. I decided to hang around Kenyans, Somalis and Arabs instead. But as I said, I wasn’t doing a lot of hanging. I was always in my room.
LMAO. Did anything interesting happen in your new school?
That’s where the real story starts.
I am ready.
I was on my own one day, about four months into my new school, when I got a call from someone who said they wanted me to help them with a project but would love to meet to discuss the specifics. We set a date and met, and his “project” was for me to help him clone a bank app. I asked him what he wanted to use it for and his response was that he was going to pay me well. It didn’t sit well with my spirit, so I told him I wasn’t going to be able to do it for him. He didn’t mind.
Two weeks later, I got another call. Someone wanted me to help them make a website that worked exactly like MMM, the ponzi scheme. The pay was $10,000. I asked him to meet to discuss details and somehow I agreed to do the job. By the time I started, I realised once again that I was doing the wrong thing, so I called him and said I wasn’t going to do the job. I didn’t want to live with the guilt. I refunded him the money he paid for the domain name and hosting and went my way.
Omo.
In this same period, things started getting hard. It was 2014 and the Nigerian economy had gone to shit, so things weren’t so easy for my parents. I remember that the amount I had to pay for my school fees tripled. I had to find a job to make ends meet. When I eventually got one, it was at a startup that built software for hospitals. The money was good.
Two months after I turned down the MMM gig, I met the guy again. This time, he came to meet me at the restaurant I went to every day after work. He came to me and said:“Whether you like it or not, you will do that website for me. If you don’t, I will pick you up and make you do it.”
Fear is an understatement for what I felt that night. Nigerian cult activity is high in Malaysia and Nigerian cultists have occasional inter-cult battles where people die, get maimed, and are kidnapped, so I knew that for him to threaten me like that, he was either a cultist or was connected to some wicked people. The next day, I went to report him to the police. They requested CCTV footage from the restaurant, a statement from me, and asked me to report him to the Nigerian embassy in Malaysia.
Why the Nigerian embassy?
The Nigerian embassy is meant to be able to recognise and track him because he’s a Nigerian citizen. At least, that’s what they said.
Makes sense. What happened next?
Things went silent for a whole year. In that period, I had changed jobs and was now working at an institution that built financial apps. At some point, it was time to pay my fees again and I could afford it, so I went to the bank to pay. On my way back home, I met the guy who had asked me to help him clone a bank app. He was excited to see me and said he’d been looking for me for a while because he had a job for me. He told me he’d reach back out later to discuss.
The next day, he called me and told me about the job: he and his gang had access to some Arab guy’s account and wanted to move money out of it. They didn’t know how much he had, but they knew they could take out at least $2 million. What they needed from me was to recommend a good VPN, to create a fake email where his OTPs would be redirected to, and to orchestrate the process. My cut was going to be 10%.
Ah!
Straight up, I told him I wasn’t interested. Apart from the fact that it was wrong, I worked at a place where we created sensitive financial software and if they knew I was talking to people like that, I could lose my job. He called me back that night and said if I changed my mind, I should reach out.
I didn’t hear anything from him until a few weeks later when he came to meet me at the same restaurant. This time, he had $25,000 in cash and offered it to me. It was a gift to motivate me to do the job. I would still get the 10% he offered me initially on completion of the job.
I said no.
A man of virtue.
That night, when I was home, he called to tell me he wasn’t working alone. He was working with big, dangerous people that would do anything to get the deal done, and when he said anything, he meant anything. So I told him about the other guy who had threatened me and how I reported him to the police. I told him I didn’t want to have to report him to the police, but he just laughed.
The next day, I reported him to the police, and the same process happened; they asked me to get CCTV footage from the restaurant, make a report, and then report him to the embassy.
Did the threats stop?
Nope. He and his gang started looking for me everywhere in school. Almost every time I went to school, people would tell me that some strange looking people came looking for me, asking for where I lived and where I worked. I reported this again to the police and they just asked for CCTV footage from school, which I provided.
One night, I was in my apartment chilling when I heard a knock on the door. I told my flatmate, “If it’s someone looking for me, tell them I’m not at home.” It was the guy. When my flatmate told him I wasn’t around he entered the house and said he was going to wait for me. Guess what?
What?
He waited all night, sleeping on the living room couch, while I was in my room shaking out of fear. In the morning, he left.
That same day, I moved out and went to stay with a friend. I stopped picking calls because I didn’t know who was calling. I also stopped doing assignments because I was now scared of meeting with people. There was no point reporting to the police because they weren’t going to do anything. My daily routine was simple. It was just home and office. Nothing else.
What about school?
I dropped out. They knew I was a student there, so it was dangerous going to school there.
Whoa. Did your parents know about when was going on?
I didn’t tell anyone. Even now, they don’t know. None of my family members know.
Wow. what happened next?
Again, nothing happened for months, so I decided to move back to my apartment. One day, on getting home from work, I met the guy and his gang outside waiting for me. They didn’t threaten me or anything, they just told me that they needed something else. This time, it wasn’t going to be anything financially related. They needed me to clone a school portal to show that a student had good grades.
Because I was at their mercy at that moment, I agreed to do the job and charged them $1,500. The next day, I moved out again and went under the grid. This time, they called me with someone else’s number and threatened that the next time they saw me, I would be in big trouble.
For months, I laid low again. It was terrible knowing people were after my life.
Was that the end?
After another few months, I ran into the guy who wanted me to make the MMM site. He needed my help with his academics, but I told him I was busy.
That night, I got a call from a friend who I had never told about anything I was experiencing. She told me if I liked my life, I would stop rejecting jobs from cultists because she was also friends with them and was hearing some pretty disturbing plans they had for me.
Omo. Why were you still in Malaysia?
I had a job. I was making legit money and I didn’t want to leave.
I understand.
A few months after the call from my friend, I got back to my apartment and there they were, waiting for me. It was something like a standoff. They saw me and I saw them, but nothing happened for a while. I knew I was in trouble though.
How did you get out of that situation?
As they made their move to get out of their car to get me, a random police car passed by, and they got back in their car and zoomed off. That was when I knew I had to leave Malaysia. It also makes sense why the other Nigerian left in a haste.
How long were you in Malaysia?
I was there for about six years. I got there in 2013 and left in 2019. I didn’t resign from my job before I left though. I worked remotely for a few months before I quit.
What did you do when you got back to Nigeria?
I tried to found a startup but it failed, and now I work as a software lead at a startup. I told my parents I dropped out, but they were fine with it because I have all the necessary software development skills, and that was what I needed, and not necessarily a degree. When they asked why I dropped out, I just told them I felt scared because someone threatened me, and that was all. They didn’t prod too much.
Whew. Have you ever heard back from the people who threatened you in Malaysia?
Nope. But I live in constant fear that they might find me. It sometimes gives me PTSD to think about the things I’ve gone through. All the text threats, the time they deflated my car tyres, the time someone jacked my shirt up and threatened me, and so much more.
It was terrible, but I’m glad I’m back here now.
Hey there! My name is Sheriff and I’m the writer of Abroad Life. If you’re a Nigerian and you live or have lived abroad, I would love to talk to you about what that experience feels like and feature you on Abroad Life. All you need to do is fill out this short form, and I’ll be in contact.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional, and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
The subject of today’s Abroad Life is a 22-year-old man who left university in Nigeria for Cyprus in 2019. He talks about how his friends moved on, loneliness that almost made him depressed, and why he’s not moving back to Nigeria despite the fraud culture and pressure to be rich in Cyprus.
When did you decide that you wanted to leave Nigeria?
Leaving Nigeria was not a decision for me. It was 2019 and I was in Bowen University, living life as a Nigerian undergraduate, when my dad walked up to me one day and said, “Get ready, you’re going to Cyprus. I have successfully processed an admission for you.”
Just like that?
Just like that. He told me in July, and by September, I was here.
Do you know why your dad made you leave?
He knew I wasn’t happy in Bowen. The rules were stringent, and I was studying international relations. I didn’t want to study international relations. He knew I wanted to do cinematography, and that’s what I’m here studying now.
How did that make you feel?
My major feeling was sadness, because of the suddenness. I’d just started a clothing business that was doing really well and was looking to expand. I had friends in Nigeria. If it wasn’t that I knew that “going abroad” was a good thing, I would have totally hated it. But in the end, I was happy that I was leaving to study .
Did you have to process a visa?
It was the most stressful thing ever. I had to go to Abuja and get to the embassy as early as 6 a.m. several times. I was denied the first time, but I got it the second time.
What was it like, suddenly leaving people behind?
It didn’t hit me that I was totally leaving home until I got here. It felt like I was going for the weekend. Many of my friends didn’t know I was travelling until I got here and told them. When I finally got here, the loneliness I experienced was overwhelming.
Tell me about it.
People think that once you travel, you have a brand new life — new friends, a different lifestyle and all that, so they leave you alone. Or at least that’s what my friends did. I felt like a fish out of water. I lived in the hostel dorms for the first year and during COVID, my roommate left to stay with his friend. I nearly lost my mind. I didn’t have anyone to talk to both here and back at home. I don’t like using the word depression casually, but I’m sure I was gradually approaching depression.
Damn. How did you work through that?
After my first year, I got a place by myself. That was the first time I felt free in a long time. I started going out, playing sports and socialising more. I’m certain that if I didn’t move out of the dorms then, I would be in a terrible place now. It was a terribly lonely place for me.
What’s Cyprus like?
One thing that stands out for me is that people are extremely nice. I thought I had manners and class until I got here. People are willing to answer your questions and treat you like a decent human. I also noticed that things are more organised here. I’ve met a few racist people, but I don’t like talking about the experience.
The longer you stay in Cyprus though, the more you realise that this place is powered by fraud.
It’s completely true. Here’s the thing: there are a lot of schools in Cyprus, so the youth population here is high. This means that people are under pressure to be rich to fit certain standards. And the standards here are so, so high.
So how do people achieve this wealth fast and easily? The answer is fraud.
I don’t like using statistics when I’ve not measured anything, but in a room of 10 young people in Cyprus, eight of them are doing fraud big time.
Omo…
It’s not possible to miss it. It’s not even possible not to interact with someone that’s not a fraudster every day. It’s almost impossible to not have fraudster friends. I’d say fraud is normalised, but that would be underselling it, so let me put it this way: If you’re not a fraudster in Cyprus, you’re not an important person. People assume that you don’t have anything to bring to the table. You’re trying to talk to a babe and all she’s trying to find out is how much money you make. If you’re not making big time fraud money, she probably won’t take you seriously.
Damn. What is it like living with all that around you?
A lot of the time, it’s hard. I have seen people that have completely changed because of the pressure. There were times when I was close to hitting a fraudster friend up to teach me how to start. The pressure will make you do that. It’s hard to not live a glamorous life here. Even people that don’t have the money that the big fraudsters have fake it just to feel among.
How do you deal with the pressure?
I stay at home and off social media. If I don’t see anything to put me under pressure, I won’t feel the need to live that type of life. I’d say I’m also a really content person, so it’s harder for the pressure to actually break me.
That’s cool. Do you do anything to make money?
I’m setting up my clothing business here and the prospects look great.
What do you miss the most about Nigeria?
I miss my friends, and I miss the fact that it was home. I also miss the fact that there isn’t an extreme pressure to become rich. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are fraudsters in Nigeria and young people want to become millionaires at all cost, but it’s not extreme. In Nigeria, I could chill with my guys and we’d all be broke and know that we’d turn out good. We’d be there for one another. Here, the friends you make are probably just trying to make money from you, or with you . There is no real care. When the money goes, they’re gone. You can’t even trust them. Obviously, not everyone is like this, but the culture is prevalent.
Do you want to return to Nigeria after school?
I think I’ll stay here and run my clothing business. The prospects are encouraging because there’s a large community of young people who are looking to explore fashion items. Most people don’t like to wear the same things over and again, and most things sold here are similar.
So I’d like to do something different with my brand and give young people what they want.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional, and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
This week’s subject on Abroad Life is a 25-year-old woman who transferred from Nigeria to Cyprus for school. She talks about how underwhelming the country is, her terrible experiences with over-flirty men and the fraud epidemic in Cyprus.
First things first, where are you right now?
I’m in Cyprus.
What’s going on there?
I was in school, but I’m done and about to return to Nigeria. I studied Petroleum Engineering. I started in Nigeria, but finished here.
What school in Nigeria?
I prefer not to speak, but it’s a school that oppresses its students. Just think of a popular private university in Nigeria known for oppression.
Haha… I think I have an idea. Why did you choose Cyprus?
If I was rich, I’d be in another country, but due to my financial condition, I’m in Cyprus. Cyprus is basically for Nigerians who want to be abroad but cannot afford the main abroad. I love Nigeria, but I despised the school I was in, so I wasn’t performing really well. I felt like I was wasting my time, so I decided to leave for Cyprus.
My dad had never heard about Cyprus before I brought it up. He was intrigued. He said if I wanted to go somewhere new, I should.
I had a lot of time to think from when I left “School of Oppression” till when I went to Cyprus. In the middle of it all, I changed my mind from Cyprus to Canada because I have family there, but when I brought it up with my dad, he went, “Are you going abroad for family or for school?”
At some point, the visa processing for Cyprus was also taking time, so I brought up Canada again, and he told me not to be confused and see it through to the end since I had already started it. That’s why and how I’m here.
What was the process of going to Cyprus like?
Tedious. First of all, you know how Nigeria is, with the ups and downs and interviews getting postponed. Also, the part of Cyprus I’m in isn’t the main Cyprus, it’s a small village country that is only recognised by Turkey. It’s called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. So you have to go to the Turkish embassy to get your visa. The process took about a month, and by the time I got my visa, classes had begun.
How long was it from when you started applying for school till when you left?
I started applying the minute I left my oppressive school. I had a lot of issues with transcripts and all so that took some time. And then the visa time came, and it was a stressful process as well because they just kept telling us to come back the next day. And then one day, they tear-gassed us.
WHAT?
Yep. In Abuja. Because of all the “come back tomorrow”, people started getting frustrated. You would see people complaining about how they’d been there since 3 a.m. and hadn’t been attended to. On this day, the security operatives told people to leave as usual, but the people stayed and said they needed to be attended to. They were teargassed. It’s not like they were getting violent or anything. They were just demanding for their visas. I was lucky because I had just left when this happened.
I understand why people go these lengths to go to Cyprus. Things are cheap there, education and all. But when you get there, you realise that it’s not all that great. I even got scammed trying to get my visa.
Ah!
There was a man that always lurked around the embassy saying he could help us get our visas. At that point, my dad was already cranky because I’d been at home for a while, and he wanted me to leave because school had already started. Then a girl I met at the embassy said her mother knew someone who could help. It was that man. We paid him 75k. Long story short, he took my money, ran away and stopped picking my calls. It’s like he even knew when I was calling with a random number because he wasn’t picking those as well. I can’t remember his name right now, but God punish him.
Lol. What was your first impression of Cyprus?
When my plane landed, I was waiting excitedly to see the magic that everyone was rushing to. Nothing. I got in a cab and headed where I was supposed to be staying. On my way, I kept looking outside the window for something to blow my mind. Nothing. I slept, woke up the next day and went out. Nothing. I kept asking myself, “Where is the abroad?” The best way I can describe it is living in Cyprus is like living in a very big Lekki.
Wow. You’ve been there how long?
Two years this October.
You said something about Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Why does that sound like colonialism?
To be honest, I don’t know. They taught us about it in school, but I can’t remember. There are two sides of Cyprus. The south is under Greece and the north is under Turkey.
What are the people there like?
In my first three months, I was kind of overwhelmed.
I had a very bad experience with a guy that kept hounding me, stalking me and all. He wanted to sleep with me. Things got really messy with him.
Then there was another guy that I was sure I’d fallen in love with. I even thought we were dating. We were all lovey-dovey and all, but it turned out that he had a girlfriend he had been with for three years. It’s crazy because one time, I saw her picture on his phone, and he said she was his sister’s friend. Men.
Then there was another guy that tried to rape me. I escaped and ran for my life.
Wow, I’m sorry you had to experience that. Were these guys Nigerians?
Yep. People say there are Nigerians everywhere, but in Cyprus, there are so many Nigerians.
What was your experience with actual Cypriots like?
I didn’t really interact with them for a couple of reasons. First, the language. They speak Turkish. But in my school, they spoke English so I didn’t need to learn the language.
Cypriot men are extremely flirty, it’s mind blowing. There was a day I was at the market downstairs to get something, and a guy there said something that I didn’t really hear. I got to my apartment upstairs and heard a knock on my door. When I opened, he was standing there, asking me if I was married and if he could give me money for sex. They have a terrible perversion problem.
Also, many of them are racist.
I never paid attention to the racism because I believed if I didn’t understand what they were saying, it wouldn’t bother me. But on my first day at the school cafeteria, I was on a seat that could contain about eight people, and this guy left immediately I sat there. Another day on the bus, a girl stood up when I sat beside her. I decided that whenever they came around me in situations like that, I would also clench my bag or stand up and walk away. Of course, I only did it when it was convenient for me. It’s not like if there was no extra seat, I would stand up. Common sense over racism, please. The more I understood parts of their language, the more I realised that they said words like “Monkey” when I was around.
What’s the Nigerian community in Cyprus like?
Among Nigerians here, you have to be intentional about picking your friends and your circle or else you could end up in the wrong crowd. You have to be careful or you would lose your mind. In my school, I met like-minded people that I could have meaningful conversations with, but outside school was very different.
I met the two friends I’ve had for the past two years here at the Turkish embassy. It turns out we all went to my oppressive Nigerian school. We are still very tight today. I’m grateful for them.
What types of Nigerians will I find in Cyprus?
It’s a jungle out there. Fraud is very common in Cyprus.It’s so normal that when you find a guy who doesn’t do fraud in Cyprus, that’s weird. I know a girl who blocked the guy that was moving to her because he said he wasn’t doing fraud and he got his money from collecting allowances. Seeing flashy cars on the roads is an everyday thing, and the owners will comfortably tell you they got it by doing fraud. Fraud is so normalised here, it’s crazy. Oh and it’s not even only guys. Babes too.
Did you…
I did not. One day, I was doing my hair, and the loctician asked if I did fraud. I told him no, and he got super surprised. He went on to tell me that I could definitely be a picker. A picker is a woman who picks calls and talks to “clients” for fraudsters.
I know people do fraud in Nigeria, but I never ever bumped into one. In Cyprus, you’ll see them every day.
I know a guy here who was strongly against fraud. He was an allowance collector just like me. I saw him a few weeks back, and he was driving a nice car. He looked at me and told me, point-blank, that the lockdown period got really hard for him. He got really broke and he started doing fraud.
Omo. Does the government crackdown on fraudsters?
I’m not sure, but I don’t think the government here sees fraud as such a huge crime. If they find you with a lot of cash, they’ll confiscate it, but I don’t think they’ll charge you or take you to prison or something like that. I don’t think the government puts their time into fixing that problem because the economy survives on fraud money.
I feel like it’s also important to state that Nigerians are not the only ones who do fraud here. It cuts across a wide range of people.
Fraud is so normal, people come here just to have a place to do fraud peacefully.
In Nigeria, I was sure that if I caught anyone doing fraud, I would definitely blow the whistle, but it turns out to be so normal here, reporting would be ridiculous. My first housemate would say all sorts to me about how he didn’t know why I’m not into fraud and how he was willing to teach me.
What do you like the most about Cyprus?
Cyprus is very peaceful. I can take walks at 2 a.m. and know that nothing will happen to me. Maybe the worst thing that could happen is that I’ll meet some pervert, and he’ll offer me money for sex.
But if you can afford better, then there’s no reason for you to go to Cyprus except you’re a fraudster who wants to live in a comfortable environment. I see people saying they’ve been here for seven years, and I’m wondering how that’s even possible.
For an exposed person or someone that knows better, Cyprus is a 3.5/10. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.
Dubai Police has arrested “international online scammer” Hushpuppi and 12 others to answer for multiple fraud charges.
In a four-minute video released by Dubai Media Office on Twitter on Thursday, June 25, 2020, the police revealed full details of the operation that brought down the gang.
Earlier this year, Dubai Police launched an investigation, called “Operation Fox Hunt 2” into Hushpuppi and members of his gang. After four months of scrutiny, which included hours of monitoring the gang’s social media accounts, the team had everything they needed to bring the gang in. More importantly, they had their locations.
Apparently, the police didn’t buy Hushpuppi’s story as a “successful businessman”. For months and unbeknownst to Hushpuppi, the police were tracking his every move and taking note of his social media activities. Eventually, 6 raids were conducted simultaneously and the gang was rounded up in their Dubai residences.
According to the police, Hushpuppi and his team defrauded unsuspecting victims by creating fake pages of websites and redirecting payments to their own accounts. Also, they were known to hack corporate emails and divert financial transactions to their accounts, robbing victims of their money in the process.
Let’s Talk Numbers
1. During Hushpuppi’s reign of terror, he and his team amassed about 1.6 billion dirhams (about N169 billion .)
2. Hushpuppi and his crew successfully defrauded one million, nine hundred and twenty-six thousand, four hundred (1,926, 400) victims.
3. Hushpuppi and his team allegedly bought 13 luxury cars worth 25 million dirhams (N2. 640 billion) from the proceeds of their fraudulent activities.
4. During the operation that led to their arrest, the police recovered items worth more than 150 million dirhams ( N15.845 billion), which included 21 personal computers, 5 hard drives, 47 smartphones, and 15 flash drives.
In related news, Nigeria and the US are fighting for the custody of Hushpuppi following his arrest.
We’ll be sure to update you as more information comes to light.
It might not seem like it, but there was once a time when news of forged certificates in Nigeria’s political hemisphere was a cause for surprise — such a time being as recent as 1999. In that year, Salisu Buhari, Nigeria’s Speaker of the House of Representatives, supposedly being the ripe old age of 36 for political office and riding the wave of a degree from the University of Toronto, as well as a completed NYSC programme, had the skies set as the limit for his political aspirations.
Only, he didn’t have a degree from the University of Toronto, chances are, he couldn’t tell the cafeteria from the convocation halls of the University, or any university for that matter. He also made up the story about participating in the NYSC programme and his age, yeah, he lied about that too.
A little about Mr. Salisu Buhari.
In 1999, Salisu Buhari was a Nigerian politician whose zeal to reach the top of his career was perhaps matched only by his gross disqualification to do so. Using little more than his status as the progeny of a First republic politician (Malam Salisu Buhari) and a bag of lies strong enough to make any Sunday school teacher blush, he made it to be the representative of the Nasarawa Constituency of Kano State under the PDP and shortly after that, the fourth Speaker of the House of Representatives; following Nigeria’s long stint with military rule.
Separating Truth from fiction.
At the time of his appointments, his birthday was officially listed as January 3, 1963. While his qualifications for contesting office stemmed from a Bsc in Business Administration from Toronto University, Canada in 1990, a diploma in Accounting from the Aminu Bello University – Zaria in 1988 and the completion of the NYSC Programme in 1991.
But as we now know, none of it was true.
We’re not sure, but Salisu Buhari might hold the record as the only Nigerian politician whose football age actually pushed him close to an early retirement. In actuality, he was born on January 3, 1970, one year younger than the constitutionally prescribed 30 year age-limit for members of the House of Representatives and 7 years younger than his publicised age.
His educational qualifications were also a long-winding sham. Despite gaining admission to ABU Zaria, he was withdrawn for falsifying his credentials, proof that his nasty habit of lying wasn’t newly sprouted. But perhaps most damning was the degree in public administration which must have materialised from thin air, as the University of Toronto certainly had no parts in it.
The Lies Fall Apart.
Perhaps bolstered by this mustache —
Mr. Buhari really thought he had a chance of faking his way into a completed tenure as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. However, on February 16, 1999; barely six weeks into his role as speaker, an investigative media outlet – The NEWS Magazine, decided enough was enough and published an exposé into the many lies of Mr Salisu; the likes of which Nigeria’s crop of leaders in 2019 could possibly do with.
In it, they set out to unequivocally prove that the only thing real about Mr Buhari was perhaps his impressive mustache (it is an impressive stache) and nothing more. Regarding his qualification from Toronto University, an official of the school – Carlo Villanueva was approached and quoted as saying no student by that name had been registered.
The veracity of his degree from Aminu Bello University was dispelled, and it was brought to the fore that his admission had been revoked for falsified credentials.
Also refuted were his claims to have completed the mandatory year-long NYSC program in the employ of Standard Construction, Kano. The NYSC had no record of his participation. He probably used Kemi Adeosun’s certificate plug.
Salisu Fights Back.
Like every guilty Nigerian man caught in a lie, Salisu Buhari began an overly-aggressive fight to prove his innocence; going so far as to sue the publication for libel in response to the claims made against him.
At this time however, an investigation had been instituted by the presidency under the office of the then National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Muhammad Gusau. Their findings led to the decision to prosecute Mr Buhari, a resolution which was forgone for his resignation, following the intervention of some notable Nigerians.
(Which would have been perfectly reasonable had it been a nuclear family matter in question and not the commission of a series of literal crimes, but Nigeria)
Buhari Bows Out.
On July 22, 1999, exactly 49 days after his election as speaker, Mr Buhari tendered his resignation on the floor of the House in letter which he read, complete with crocodile tears pon his irises.
This letter, read out loud unironically, contained such incredulous claims like : “I was led to error by the zeal to serve the nation.”
And the gutsier statement: “I trust therefore, that the nation will forgive me and give me another opportunity to serve.”
The unbelievable guts of these men.
His seat was filled by Alhaji Ibrahim Inuwa, who was allegedly placed there to merely keep the seat warm for Buhari’s cheeks to slide right back in, because Nigeria is apparently filled with mugs that wouldn’t notice or care it seems.
Luckily, their plan never came to fruition, despite Inuwa’s resignation on June 8, 2000.
What did he get up to afterwards?
As we all know, the Nigerian reward for political bad deeds is an elevation to better, more dignified places, and Mr Buhari is no exception.
Following a pardon for his disgraceful behaviour by President Olusegun Obasanjo; Salisu had the good sense to go into hiding and steered clear of politics to set up a company – Rumbu Nigeria Ltd in Kano State, where he remains the chairman.
Unfortunately, his hiatus didn’t last long, as he had pivotal roles to play in Yar’Adua’s campaign in 2007 and Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign in 2011.
In 2013, the Jonathan administration made him a member of the Governing Council of the University of Nigerian Nsukka, on the excuse that he had been pardoned and forgiven.
Is there a better lesson to show your children than a pardon and a half-assed apology is all you need to get by in Nigeria? Repercussions for your actions be damned. I think not.
Last we heard, Salisu Buhari was really learning the consequences of his actions, with a membership in VP Osibanjo’s board of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.
Crime doesn’t pay? You must not know where to hang in West Africa.
On Saturday, while everyone else was eating the spoils of Owambe party rice, I was carrying out my preferred weekend activity – frying out whatever brain cells survived the week’s grind on Nigerian social media.
A few annoying GOT spoilers and some unsolicited Endgame reviews after, I came across an interesting tweet.
In quick succession, three more tweets trickled in with the word ‘Loom’ present. It appeared someone had unleashed the SEO floodgates ‘pon my timeline. So, being the eternal busybody that I am, I decided to go in search of whatever this ‘loom’ phenomenon was, and wow Nigerians, just wow. I hail.
In case you have no idea what Loom is, I’ll explain using the questions that plagued my mind as I carried out my research on what is a thinly veiled MMM plus.
What is Loom?
First off, when the name of a scheme literally translates to ‘something vague and threatening’, you already know not a lot of good can come out of it.
The premise of Loom lies in a peer-to-peer pyramid scheme that sees an individual putting in a sum of money and earning eight times the amount he put. Nothing unrealistic or too-good-to-be-true sounding about that. No Sir.
So if you invest 1000, you’re ideally entitled to a pay out of 13 000, 104 000 if the amount invested is 13 000, these amounts being the stipulated amounts to be a part of the Loom . Sound simple enough correct? Well, this leads to the next question I had
How does it work?
Because we are currently in the millenial age with our kitschy gadgets our social media, the loom scheme can be carried wherever you go, via WhatsApp.
To begin, a group is set up by an individual, he becomes the center. The more people recruited, the closer he is to getting his payout. Once this group reaches the 8 mark, he collects his pay and leaves the group, but not without first re-investing a portion of his earnings into the group.
The remainder of the group is then divided into 2, with 4 members each. They are encouraged to invite more people in to hasten their chances of reaching the sacred 8 mark, where the next center cashes out. Rinse and repeat.
What do the colours mean?
For some reason, weird colours were thrown into the mix.
The colours Purple, blue, orange and red represent the levels in the Loom, with Red representing the center. The others represent how close an individual is to get to the center.
But you know what else has those colours? This guy.
Which is what you’re going to be, should you choose to participate in this scheme.
Is it Safe?
Well, it’s safe in the way babies playing with a naked flame is safe. Like picking your teeth with a discarded needle is perfectly harmless or jumping off of a moving okada is good fun. If you missed it, it’s not safe.
Yes, there’s a high chance you cash out should you join the group in its early stages, but for this scheme to be plausible, an endless flow of people are required and it is simply unsustainable. Someone always loses in the end. Don’t let that be you
Should I put my money in?
No, absolutely not. Not only is it too good to be true, but it’s also illegal, seeing as it is a financial organisation without the required regulatory approvals. Please, I take God beg you, don’t disgrace us outside.
If you had no idea who he was when his insanely popular Ponzi scheme took the country by storm, then you definitely heard about him when news of his death spread and Nigerians fist pumped in unison and celebrated.
His name was Sergei Mavrodi, Russia’s Jeffrey Dahmer look-alike and founder of MMM, the Ponzi scheme that defrauded millions of people around the world.
Now, this isn’t me making him out to be some kind of legend or anything, but I recently found out some details about his life that legit made me scream. (My curiosity not only killed the cat, but it also buried it too.)
Details like:
1. You see this MMM thing? No be when e come Nigeria e start.
This nigga actually started this thing in 1989 with his brother, Vyacheslav Mavrodi, and some woman named Olga Melnikova. It initially started as a network of computer-importing cooperatives but underwent several transformations (after tax police accused the business of tax evasion in 1992) to become a Ponzi scheme in 1994.
2. He was arrested for tax evasion in 1994 and, while still being investigated, ran for office in his country (Russia) AND WON.
3 weeks after being released from police custody, this guy saw an opportunity and went for it. You see, a politician in the Federal Assembly of Russia had just been killed and an election was scheduled to replace him. Mavrodi somehow ran in this election and won, automatically gaining immunity from the crime he was was being investigated for at the time.
That wasn’t the end of his problems though. During his tenure, Mavrodi showed up in the Federal Assembly just once, to vote against an attempt to strip him of immunity. He was eventually stripped of his immunity in 1995, which led to him trying to run for PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA in 1996. However, his bid was denied after officials discovered that most of the signatures he submitted were forged.
This guy!
3. After his plot to run for the presidency was foiled, he declared MMM bankrupt and vanished in 1997.
With a shit ton of people’s money. He wouldn’t be found for another six years.
4. He was found and arrested in Moscow in 2003 (which was weird because authorities believed he fled to Greece years prior) and was given until February 2006 to read the documents in the fraud case against him.
If you’re wondering why he was given three years to read a bunch of documents, it’s because these documents had 650 volumes, and each volume was 270 pages long. He got lucky though because, by April 2007, he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. And since he had already been in police custody for 4 years, he only spent less than a month in prison before he was released.
This guy!
5. A book he wrote about MMM and how the Russian government shut it down was eventually turned into a movie named The PyraMMMid. It was released in 2011.
Eldar Salavatov, the filmmaker who took on the project, made the story into a Robin Hood-style narrative about a con man who turns a new leaf by deciding to fight a corrupt financial system. Frankly, I think it sounds insane which is why I absolutely have to watch it.
6. In 2011, he launched the version of MMM we encountered lazily named MMM-2011.
He launched it first in Russia and boldly stated that it was, in fact, a Ponzi scheme (there’s no law against them in Russia) he hoped would destroy the financial system, which he considered unfair. He then proceeded to launch it in India, China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Nigeria, all of which ended the same way.
Alexa, play Madonna’s “Frozen.”
7. After dying of heart problems in March 2018, MMM 2011 investors funded his funeral.
We’re also going to assume that these heart problems were caused by millions of curses from the victims of his Ponzi schemes. God knows he deserved it.
But that’s not why we’re here sha. Gist just broke that this unpopular pastor was arrested for fraud.
According to the report, he’s currently in jail for being involved in an alleged 11.6 million Ghana Cedis fraud.
The complainant claimed that he gave Pastor Obinim the large amount of money as payment for spiritual assistance. Unfortunately, the pastor didn’t deliver.
In addition to this fraud wahala, he’s also being charged for physical assault of the two people he flogged in his church.
We’re not going to say anything sha. Just let us know what you think in the comments section.
