Lola Akinlade, a Nigerian student in Canada, has been ordered to leave the country by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) after it was discovered that the acceptance letter she used to obtain her study visa and work permit was fraudulent.
TOP MEDIA NIGERIA reports that Akinlade, who graduated with a diploma in social services from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, shared her experience with CBC News on Thursday.
She explained that she was unaware of the fraudulent nature of the acceptance letter, which was provided by an agent in 2016, until IRCC contacted her shortly before her graduation.
The mother of two described her reaction as a mix of happiness and anxiety upon realising that she had unknowingly relied on a fake document to secure her study permit.
“I was devastated. That was the beginning of my trauma,” Akinlade said.
In her interview, Akinlade recounted how the process began in 2015 while she was working as a medical sales representative in Lagos.
A man claiming to be an immigration consultant offered to assist her in becoming an international student in Canada.
Akinlade provided the agent with the necessary documents and payment, and months later, she received a study permit, plane tickets, and an acceptance letter from the University of Regina.
However, upon her arrival in Canada in December 2016, Akinlade was informed by the agent that there were no available spots at the university, and that she would be placed on a waitlist.
She eventually enrolled at Nova Scotia Community College in September 2017 after independently searching for a new program.
It wasn’t until two years later, after receiving a letter from IRCC, that Akinlade contacted the University of Regina and learned the acceptance letter was fake.
“I was skeptical 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.”
When CBC reached out to the agent, Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, he confirmed providing Akinlade with the letter but claimed it was supplied by a company in Lagos called Success Academy Education Consult.
Adegoke denied telling Akinlade that she would have to be waitlisted at the University of Regina.
As a result of the fake letter, Akinlade lost her study permit and was denied both a postgraduate work permit and a temporary resident permit.
Her husband, Samson Akinlade, and their eight-year-old son, who joined her in Nova Scotia in 2018, have also lost their temporary resident status.
Their younger son, born in Canada in 2021, holds 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,” Akinlade said. “It’s really, really hard.”