Headline

Fraudulent Visa: Nigerian Family Faces Deportation From Canada Over Fake Admission Letter

Published

1 year ago

August 3, 2024

Editor

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has asked Nigerian student, Lola Akinlade to leave the country over a fake acceptance letter she used to obtain a study visa and work permit.

Akinlade, who graduated with a diploma in Social Services from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, shared her bitter experience with CBC News on Thursday.

According to her, she was unaware that the acceptance letter provided by an agent for the University of Regina in 2016 was fake until she was contacted by the IRCC a few weeks before her graduation from her new institution.

The mother of two noted that while receiving her diploma, she felt both happiness and worry upon realising that she had allegedly relied on a fraudulent document to secure her study permit, adding, “I was devastated. That was the beginning of my trauma.”

Lola Akinlade. Source: CBC News
In an interview with the Canadian news platform, she said, “When the IRCC contacted me, I requested them to re-examine my case, arguing that I was a victim of a ‘rogue agent’ who supplied me with a fake acceptance letter to the Canadian school.

“Please review my file. I just want this to be resolved.”

Akinlade stated that the process of moving to travel to and study in Canada started in 2015 while she was working as a medical sales representative at a pharmaceutical company in Lagos, with a business administration degree from a Nigerian university.

She recounted meeting a man at her office who claimed to be an immigration consultant and offered to guide her through the process of becoming an international student by applying for a master’s degree in business administration.

Akinlade explained that she did not specify a particular university to the agent, only stating that she wanted to study at a reputable Canadian institution.

She described how she provided the agent with documents such as her passport and university transcripts, along with payment. Several months later, he provided her with a study permit for Canada, plane tickets, and an acceptance letter from the University of Regina.

“I flew to Canada in late December 2016, expecting to start classes in January 2017. However, I was stopped in Winnipeg en route to Regina when I received a call from the agent, who told me there were no spaces available at the university and that I would have to go on a waitlist.

Upon arriving in Canada, she began searching independently for a new school and programme and stayed with relatives in Winnipeg until she was accepted at Nova Scotia Community College for social services, starting in September 2017.

She said she chose social services because it better aligned with her previous work in the medical field.

Akinlade stated that she did not contact the University of Regina directly until two years later, when she received a letter from the IRCC informing her that the acceptance letter was fake.

“I was sceptical after receiving the IRCC letter, thinking it might be a misunderstanding or something,” she said. “So, I immediately contacted the University of Regina.

“And that was when I learned the truth,” she added.

Meanwhile, when CBC contacted the agent, Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, he confirmed providing Akinlade with the acceptance letter but said it was supplied by a company located in Ejigbo, Lagos State, called Success Academy Education Consult, which he had hired.

CBC exchanged text messages with Adegoke, who stated that he guided Akinlade through the process of applying to enter Canada. However, he denied telling Akinlade that she would have to go on a waitlist at the University of Regina.

Akinlade lost her study permit in Canada due to a fake letter and was denied when she attempted to apply for a postgraduate work permit and a temporary resident permit.

In March 2023, an IRCC officer wrote to Akinlade, stating that the department believed she knew the document was fake “on the balance of probabilities.”

Her husband, Samson Akinlade, and their eight-year-old Nigerian-born son, David, joined her in Nova Scotia in 2018 but have now lost their temporary resident status. Their younger son, born in Canada in 2021, has Canadian citizenship but lacks medical coverage due to his parents’ status.

“We’ve been surviving on our savings, and I don’t know how long we can continue doing that,” she said. “It’s really, really hard,” she added.

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

2 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

Headline

Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

4 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.

Headline

14-year-old Dies After Botched Secret Breast Surgery

Published

4 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A 14-year-old girl has died following a secret cosmetic procedure reportedly carried out by her mother’s boyfriend, a tragedy that her biological father only uncovered after her funeral.

The teenager, identified as Paloma Nicole Arellano Escobedo, died on September 20, 2025, after undergoing a breast enlargement surgery in Tijuana, Mexico, as reported by TMZ on Thursday.

Reports say the operation was arranged by her mother without the knowledge or consent of her father, Carlos Arellano.

Following the surgery, Paloma suffered severe complications that led to cardiorespiratory arrest and brain swelling. She was pronounced dead shortly after.

Her death certificate, however, listed the cause as cerebral oedema caused by a respiratory illness, a claim her father strongly disputes. Information for this report was compiled from multiple sources, including AZ Central.

“Her death certificate falsely stated ‘illness’ as the cause of death in an attempt to cover up the truth,” said Carlos, alleging that the official report was deliberately misleading.

Carlos said he became suspicious after the family received the certificate unusually quickly.

“They gave it to us right away. I don’t know how they did it so quickly,” he said, adding that the speed of the process raised further questions about whether officials were attempting to conceal the true cause of death.

During the funeral, relatives noticed that Paloma’s chest looked noticeably different.

“At the funeral, some relatives told me her breasts were larger than what she had before, and when I mentioned it to her mother, she told me it wasn’t true, that she didn’t know anything,” Carlos told prosecutors, according to AZ Central.

When he asked for a private moment to say goodbye to his daughter, Carlos invited his mother, sister, and sister-in-law to help him examine her body.

“Sure enough: she had breast implants. We have photographs of the implants and the scars. We immediately requested an autopsy,” he said in his official complaint.

Authorities later confirmed that the surgery had allegedly been performed by Dr Víctor Manuel, a 45-year-old plastic surgeon who owned a private clinic in Durango and was romantically involved with Paloma’s mother.

He has since been suspended by the Mexican Association of Plastic, Aesthetic, and Reconstructive Surgeons while the Durango State Prosecutor’s Office investigates the case.

Carlos accused his ex-wife and her partner of lying to him and attempting to conceal the true circumstances of their daughter’s death.

“I demand that all those responsible be investigated,” he said, calling for justice and accountability for everyone involved in the unauthorised surgery and possible cover-up.

Durango’s Attorney General, Yadira de la Garza Fragoso, confirmed that investigators are looking into the role of both the surgeon and the mother.

“We are investigating a probable lack of care on the part of the mother for placing a minor who was under her care and custody in risky situations,” Fragoso said.

The incident has sparked widespread concern over illegal and unsafe cosmetic surgeries involving minors in Mexico. While the country has no explicit national law restricting plastic surgery for those under 18, such procedures typically require the written consent of both parents.

A final autopsy report is pending as authorities continue the investigation.