Published 30th Nov, 2023

By Daniel Ojukwu

In 2021, Lee Ibe, a Lagos resident, found that she could get someone to help handle her itinerary from Lagos to Jos. This person was Chidinma Adjanohoun.

Chidinma and Lee had a thriving business relationship as both parties would inform FIJ, and in the middle of that year, Chidinma advertised on WhatsApp that she could help people get study visas to the UK.

Ibe took interest and committed N800,000, but two years after, there has been no visa and efforts to recover her money have yielded partial results. Chidinma and Toyin Faizat, her boss, continue to withhold N380,000.

“I showed interest and texted Chidinma to ask questions, and she told me all I needed to know about the process, course and the school,” Ibe told FIJ. “She also stated that there was 100 percent money back guarantee if it was not successful.

“I told her to start the process for my friend and I, and after much negotiation, she said it would cost both of us a combined N3.2million, which I agreed to, and she started working on it. She requested for N200,000 for Prince and I to book slots and to be sure we were really serious and ready before she started. I negotiated this to N100,000 and paid directly to her on July 14, 2022.

“Two days later, she said that her boss who was handling the project wanted us to pay half of the bill, which was N1.5 million, before they could continue, and I told her I could only pay N700,000, and that after the visa was out, I would balance up, and she agreed. Again, I sent N700,000 on July 16, 2022. With the N100,000 I paid earlier to book a slot, it became a total of N800,000. All was paid to Chidinma’s account.”

Ibe told FIJ that she waited for Chidinma to get back to her on the process but it delayed till October 2022, leading her to request a refund.

This refund did not come, and on April 18, 2023, Ibe took the matter to Adekunle police station in Lagos. This led to Ibe and Faizat meeting for the first time. At the station, Faizat and Chidinma signed an undertaken to repay the N800,000 by July 2023.

“August 3, 2023, was when I received a credit alert of N420,000 and immediately I called to ask Chidinma why she sent N420,000 instead of the N800,000 that was on the agreement,” Ibe explained. “She said I shouldn’t call her again and that I should talk to the police officer in charge of the case.

“When I called the police woman to inform her, she said that Chidinma claimed I always threatened her whenever I called her, which was a lie. The police got in touch with them and they said that was the amount they could raise, and that we should give them an extra week to balance. I agreed. One week passed and I didn’t see anything until this very moment. Even the police officer is tired.”

FIJ called Chidinma, and she said her boss was responsible for paying. We called Faizat in early November, and she promised to repay on November 20. On November 21, we called her again after Ibe confirmed she did not receive any money. Faizat promised to pay on November 27, but that date has now passed as well.

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