Damilola Akintewe, a law student at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, has accused The Informant 247, a Kwara State-based online newspaper, of denying her the prize money she won after competing in a writing contest organised by the news outlet.

Speaking to FIJ on Monday, Akintewe said she participated and won the prize money in a ‘National Writing Contest’ organised by The Informant 247 for undergraduates in Nigerian tertiary institutions in January.

“The competition was held between January 13 and 28, 2022, and I was announced winner on March 24, 2022,” Akintewe said.

“My essay, ‘Brain Drain: What to do about Nigeria’s greatest pandemic’, was the winning essay and I won a N50,000 prize money. Essays written by Rhoda Paul-Osagie and Olajumoke Saheed won them N30,000 and N20,000 respectively.”

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Eight months after, Akintewe said she was yet to receive her winnings, despite the announcement remaining public on the newspaper’s Facebook page.

“Since March, Taofeek Salihu, the founder, has been ignoring emails from me. I called him sometime in June and he berated me over the phone,” Akintewe said.

“On March 28, I received an email from the newspaper, informing me that I had won and promising to send guidelines on how to claim my prize money to me. But I never heard from them again.”

According to Akintewe, Paul-Osagie reached out to her in May to equally complain about the company’s failure to respond to her messages and provide her with the money she won.

“We both kept on trying to reach the newspaper, hoping we would one day get our prizes. On July 18, I eventually received an email signed by one Akewushola Afeez on behalf The Informant247 Foundation, a subsidiary of the newspaper,” Akintewe said.

“In the mail, the company said the delay was due to the “late responses from the first and second runners-up.” It also said Saheed (the second runner-up) was yet to respond to any of the newspapers mails and this had affected my own payment.

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“Afeez then asked me to again send my bank details to him. He also asked me clarify the prize distribution to him. He ended by saying that acting with integrity was paramount to the company.”

Akintewe said that she still has not received her prize despite responding to Azeez’s mail four months ago.

When FIJ called Taofeek Salihu on Sunday for comments on the matter his known number was switched off. An email and a text message sent to him on Monday had also not been responded to at press time.