Before Babatunde Odubiyi, a Nigerian resident in England, paid Agubo Oddy, another Nigerian in England, £9,000 for his brother’s Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) in November 2023, he had only heard good stories about him, according to FIJ
But one year after entrusting his funds with Oddy, he has not received the CoS or a refund.
Odubiyi told FIJ that his problem with Oddy started after a trusted friend kept telling him how Oddy had helped many people get their CoS. After a while, Odubiyi agreed to speak with Oddy, who claimed he could get a CoS for Odubiyi’s younger brother in Nigeria.
According to Odubiyi, Oddy pegged the fee for a CoS at £9,000, which he paid over six days in November 2023. But shortly after making the payment, Oddy began giving him various excuses as to why he could not provide the CoS.
“Before I sent the money, he told me he had the CoS. He said that it would be ready within three to five days. But after collecting the money, he started giving me the runaround, saying there was a delay. When I asked what was happening, he’d say he’d call back and never did,” Odubiyi told FIJ.
Odubiyi added that when he learnt the UK government planned to discontinue the CoS in March, he expected Oddy to return the money and stop with the excuses, but that never happened.
“I sent him a text on March 13 to return my money as they had stopped issuing it (the CoS). He then said the person he gave the money to was requesting some time. When I asked until when, he’d say later that evening. I called and explained the situation to the friend who connected us. The friend said he had noticed that Oddy had become unresponsive,” Odubiyi said.
“When my mother learnt what Oddy had done, she developed high blood pressure and passed away shortly after. I went to Hull to find him but couldn’t locate him. I had to borrow from friends to apply for my brother’s visa. Oddy is living well but still hasn’t refunded my money.”
FIJ called Oddy on Wednesday via WhatsApp for comments, but he didn’t answer the call. At press time, he had yet to respond to the follow-up message from FIJ.
© Emmanuel Oti
