JAPA: Nigerian Family Faces Deportation From Canada Over Fake Admission Letter

A Nigerian citizen, Lola Akinlade, recently battled a major disappointment after the Department of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada ordered her to depart the country due to the utilization of a counterfeit acceptance letter she employed to secure a study visa and work permit.

Akinlade, who completed her diploma in Social Services from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, disclosed her distressing ordeal with CBC News on Thursday.

She revealed that she has been in the dark regarding the authenticity of the acceptance letter from the University of Regina in 2016 until recently when she was contacted by the Department of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada several weeks prior to her commencement at her new educational institution.

The mother of two noted that while receiving her diploma, she felt both happiness and worry upon realziing 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.”

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 shared that her journey towards studying in Canada began in 2015 while she was employed as a medical sales representative at a pharmaceutical company in Lagos, holding a degree in business administration from a Nigerian university.

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She narrated an encounter with an individual at her workplace who identified himself as an immigration consultant and offered assistance in the process of pursuing a master’s degree in business administration as an international student.

Akinlade clarified that she did not specify a particular university to the consultant, only expressing her desire to study at a reputable Canadian institution.

She detailed how she submitted various documents, including her passport and university transcripts, to the consultant, along with payment.

After several months, 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,” she narrated.

After her arrival in Canada, she independently sought a new school and program, residing with relatives in Winnipeg until her acceptance into Nova Scotia Community College for social services, which commenced in September 2017.

She explained that her choice of social services was influenced by her prior experience in the medical sector.

Akinlade mentioned that she did not reach out to the University of Regina until two years later, upon receiving a notification from the IRCC indicating that her acceptance letter was fraudulent.

“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.

In the course of their investigation, CBC reached out to the agent, Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, who acknowledged that he had provided Akinlade with the acceptance letter.

He clarified that this letter was issued by a company named Success Academy Education Consult, based in Ejigbo, Lagos State, which he had engaged for assistance.

During their communication via text messages, Adegoke mentioned that he had guided Akinlade through the application process for entry into Canada.

However, he refuted claims that he informed Akinlade about the necessity of being placed on a waitlist at the University of Regina.

As a result of a fraudulent letter, Akinlade lost her study permit in Canada and faced denial when she sought to apply for both 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.”
Later, Samson Akinlade, her spouse, and their eight-year-old son, David, who was born in Nigeria, arrived in Nova Scotia in 2018 to be with her.

Unfortunately, they have recently lost their temporary resident status.

Their second son, who was born in Canada in 2021, is a Canadian citizen but is unable to access medical coverage because of his parents’ situation.

“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.