A Nigerian student named Lola Akinlade has been asked to leave Canada by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This action follows her use of a fake acceptance letter to obtain a study visa and work permit.
Sharing her experience with CBC News on Thursday, Akinlade, who graduated with a diploma in Social Services from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, recounted her ordeal.
She mentioned that she was unaware of the falsity of the acceptance letter provided by an agent for the University of Regina in 2016 until a few weeks prior to her graduation from her new institution when contacted by the IRCC.
Feeling a mix of happiness and worry during her graduation ceremony, she realized that she had unintentionally relied on a fraudulent document to secure her study permit, which left her devastated and marked the beginning of her trauma.
In her conversation with the Canadian news outlet, she pleaded her case to the IRCC, highlighting that she was a victim of a ‘rogue agent’ who provided her with a false acceptance letter for the Canadian school.
Expressing her desire for a resolution, she urged the authorities to review her case, stating, “Please review my file. I just want this to be resolved.”
Akinlade shared that her journey to study in Canada began in 2015 while she was working as a medical sales representative in Lagos. Armed with a degree in business administration from a Nigerian university, she met a man at her workplace who claimed to be an immigration consultant and offered to assist her in becoming an international student.
She didn’t specify a particular university to the agent but expressed her wish to study at a reputable Canadian institution.
Providing the agent with documents like her passport and university transcripts as well as making payments, she was later provided with a study permit for Canada, flight tickets, and an acceptance letter from the University of Regina.
Arriving in Canada in late 2016, she encountered a setback when informed by the agent during a layover in Winnipeg that there were no available slots at the university, putting her on a waitlist.
Upon reaching Canada, she independently sought a new school and program, eventually enrolling at Nova Scotia Community College for social services in September 2017, citing its alignment with her prior work in the medical field.
Akinlade admitted that she only contacted the University of Regina directly two years later upon receiving a notification from the IRCC regarding the fake acceptance letter.
Reflecting on her skepticism upon receiving the IRCC letter, she recounted her discovery upon contacting the University of Regina, acknowledging the truth behind the situation.
Furthermore, in CBC’s communication with the agent, Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, who provided the acceptance letter, he revealed that the document came from a company named Success Academy Education Consult based in Lagos State’s Ejigbo, which he had engaged.
In texts with CBC, Adegoke acknowledged assisting Akinlade in the process of applying to study in Canada but refuted informing her about being waitlisted at the University of Regina.
Having lost her study permit in Canada due to the counterfeit letter, she faced rejection when applying for a postgraduate work permit and a temporary resident permit.
In a letter dated March 2023, an IRCC officer expressed the department’s belief that Akinlade was aware of the document’s falsity “on the balance of probabilities.”
Her husband, Samson Akinlade, and their eight-year-old son, David, who joined her in Nova Scotia in 2018, have now 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.
Struggling to sustain themselves with their savings, she expressed the challenges they are facing, saying, “We’ve been surviving on our savings, and I don’t know how long we can continue doing that. It’s really, really hard,” she expressed.