Nigerian Family Faces Deportation from Canada Over Fraudulent Admission Letter

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued a deportation notice for Nigerian national Lola Akinlade after discovering that the acceptance letter used to secure her study visa and work permit was fraudulent.

Akinlade, who completed a diploma in Social Services at Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, shared her distressing story with CBC News. She revealed that she was unaware of the falsified acceptance letter provided by an immigration agent for the University of Regina until IRCC’s investigation surfaced weeks before her graduation.

Describing her reaction upon learning of the fraudulent document, Akinlade said, “I was devastated. That was the beginning of my trauma.”

In her interview, Akinlade recounted her journey beginning in 2015 while working in Lagos as a medical sales representative. She engaged with an agent who promised to facilitate her application to a Canadian university. Without specifying a preferred institution, she provided her personal documents and payment to the agent, who later presented her with a study permit, plane tickets, and an acceptance letter from the University of Regina.

Upon arriving in Canada in December 2016, Akinlade was informed by the agent that there were no available spaces at the University of Regina, forcing her to find another school. After searching independently, she enrolled at Nova Scotia Community College in September 2017.

It was only two years later, upon receiving a letter from IRCC, that she discovered the acceptance letter was fake. Contacting the University of Regina confirmed her fears. The agent involved, Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, acknowledged providing the acceptance letter but claimed it was from a third-party company, Success Academy Education Consult, in Lagos.

Due to the fraudulent letter, Akinlade’s study permit was revoked, and her subsequent applications for a postgraduate work permit and a temporary resident permit were denied. Her husband, Samson Akinlade, and their eight-year-old son lost their temporary resident status, while their younger son, born in Canada, has Canadian citizenship but no medical coverage due to their status.

Akinlade, struggling to sustain her family on savings, expressed her ongoing hardship, stating, “We’ve been surviving on our savings, and I don’t know how long we can continue doing that. It’s really, really hard.”