I faked breast cancer to raise N13m – Blessing CEO admits - Premium Times Nigeria
Media personality and self-proclaimed relationship expert Blessing “Blessing CEO” Okoro has admitted to fabricating her breast cancer diagnosis in March.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Blessing CEO sparked concern after sharing a series of emotional videos on Instagram, in which she claimed doctors diagnosed her with stage-four breast cancer.
However, Deborah Mbara, creative director of Delta-based makeup company Zazi Beauty Place, accused her of manipulating her medical report to deceive Nigerians.
The controversy prompted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest Blessing CEO. The commission subsequently arraigned her before Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The anti-graft agency filed a six-count charge against her, accusing her of obtaining money under false pretences and retaining proceeds allegedly connected to a fundraising campaign in which she claimed to have stage-four breast cancer.
The court subsequently remanded her to the Kirikiri Correctional Centre over an alleged ₦13 million cancer donation fraud. She later regained her freedom after spending months in detention on the case and other matters.
Since her release, Blessing CEO has been active on social media and has denied allegations of drug use. However, during an interview with activist and social media personality Martins “VeryDarkMan (VDM)” Otse, she admitted that she falsely claimed to have cancer because she needed money to cover her shame.
VDM posted the interview on his Instagram page on Thursday.
Blessing CEO explained that earlier medical examinations had detected a lump in her breast but confirmed that it was not cancerous. She, however, admitted that she deliberately portrayed the condition as cancer to attract financial assistance.
She said: “The pressure was too much, and that was where the cancer drama came in, and because of the pressure, I saw this embarrassment coming. Then I said to myself, What stunt can I pull? Then I pulled out the cancer. I don’t have cancer. The truth is, I had gone for a check-up a few months ago, and they found a lump on my boobs.
“It was not cancerous. So I took advantage of that, came to the media, cried for help, and said that the lump was cancerous. So people had empathy. I didn’t come out to beg for funds. I’m going to be very honest. I played an emotional game. I wanted funds, but I didn’t come out directly to ask for funds.”
Furthermore, Blessing CEO disclosed that she initially resisted the idea of appealing to Nigerians for donations until some of her fans urged her to give it a try.
She said her fans convinced her that being a celebrity should not prevent her from seeking public assistance, particularly when ordinary Nigerians had received similar support.
“First of all, I started by pretending like I wanted to sell my personal belongings, my car, my house. So, people had empathy. It was the fans that reached out to me, dear Blessing. If we can do this for an ordinary person who is not feeling well, why not you, as a celebrity, put out your account number? So that was when I put out my account number.
“The donations were rolling in. I was excited. One thousand, two thousand, three hundred, five hundred. I was honoured until VeryDarkMan came and said, ‘ You cannot be donating money for Blessings when there is no evidence. So he immediately made that video. The donation stopped”, she added.
She acknowledged that she regretted her actions.
