Blessing CEO Admits Faking Cancer Claims To Attract Donations

Social media personality, Blessing Okoro, popularly known as Blessing CEO, has admitted to falsely claiming that she had breast cancer to solicit financial donations from members of the public.

She made the confession during an interview with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, in a video shared on Thursday.

Blessing CEO said she fabricated the cancer claim because she was under financial pressure over an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-related dispute involving a man identified as Dr Onuoha Okeigwe.

“The pressure was too much. So what did I do? That was where the cancer drama came in. And because of the pressure. I saw this embarrassment coming. I said to myself, what stunt can I pull? What stunts can I pull? Then I pulled out the cancer,” she said.

She explained that she had undergone a medical examination months earlier, during which doctors discovered a lump in her breast. However, she said the lump was not cancerous.

Admitting that she deliberately misrepresented the medical finding, she said she used the situation to gain public sympathy and raise money.

“Honestly, I do not have cancer. The truth is, I had gone for a check-up a few months ago and they found a lump on my breast, but it was not cancerous.

“So I took advantage of that, came to the media, cried for help and said that the lump was cancerous. I played an emotional game. I wanted funds, but I didn’t come out directly to ask for funds,” she said.

Explaining how the donations started, Blessing CEO said she initially suggested that she might sell some of her belongings, including her car and house, to raise money.

She said members of the public subsequently encouraged her to share her bank details, after which donations began arriving from different individuals.

According to her, the contributions stopped after VeryDarkMan publicly questioned her cancer claims and demanded medical evidence to support her appeal.

“When I saw the video, immediately he (VeryDarkMan) made that video, the donation stopped. The donation paused. So I’m like, what do I do? What do I do? That was where the whole orchestration and resolving and all that stuff came,” she said.

She added that she was not proud of her actions.

The confession reverses her earlier position during the controversy, which began in March when she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and appealed to the public for financial assistance.

In an interview with content creator Egungun of Lagos in April, Blessing CEO disclosed that she had received N13m in donations but insisted that she owed nobody an apology.

She had attributed the controversy surrounding her diagnosis to possible miscommunication and said she was still seeking clarification from her doctors.

However, the Delta State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association later disowned a histology report circulated in connection with her cancer claims, stating that it was originally issued to another patient, Deborah Mbara.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission subsequently arraigned Blessing CEO on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, forgery and other alleged offences involving the N13m raised from the public.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The EFCC alleged that she used a falsified medical report to obtain donations. The allegations remain before the court for determination.

The cancer-related case is one of three fraud cases instituted against her by the commission.

In a separate case, she was arraigned over an alleged N36m fraud involving a property transaction and secured N10m bail in June.

She is also facing trial over an alleged N69.15m fraud involving a five-year lease of a property in Lekki, Lagos, which the EFCC alleged she falsely presented as belonging to her.

The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja granted her N20m bail in the case in July.

At the continuation of the trial on October 26, a prosecution witness, Dr Onuoha Okeigwe, told the court that Blessing CEO allegedly misrepresented herself as the owner of the property before collecting the money.

Okeigwe maintained during cross-examination that he relied on her representations, including WhatsApp conversations and other documents, before making the payment.

He also told the court that he had instituted a separate civil suit to recover more than N100m allegedly spent renovating the property.

The criminal case was adjourned until January 12, 2027, for the prosecution to call additional witnesses.

Blessing CEO pleaded not guilty to the charges in the separate fraud cases.

She was released from custody in late October after spending months at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre. Her detention also coincided with the death of her nine-year-old son, Bryan, in June.

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