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Social media personality, Blessing Okoro, popularly known as Blessing CEO, has admitted that she falsely claimed to have breast cancer to attract financial donations from members of the public.
She made the confession during an interview with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, in a video shared on Thursday.
Blessing CEO explained that she resorted to the claim because of financial pressure arising from a dispute involving a man identified as Dr Onuoha Okeigwe, which had also drawn the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
She said she deliberately presented a lump discovered during a medical examination as cancerous, despite knowing that the finding was not malignant.
“The pressure was too much. So what did I do? That was where the cancer drama came in. And because of the pressure. I saw this embarrassment coming. I said to myself, what stunt can I pull? What stunts can I pull? Then I pulled out the cancer,” she said.
She further admitted that she used the medical finding to appeal for public sympathy and financial assistance without directly asking people for money.
“Honestly, I do not have cancer. The truth is, I had gone for a check-up a few months ago and they found a lump on my breast, but it was not cancerous.
“So I took advantage of that, came to the media, cried for help and said that the lump was cancerous. I played an emotional game. I wanted funds, but I didn’t come out directly to ask for funds,” she said.
According to her, the fundraising started after she suggested that she might have to sell some of her personal belongings, including her car and house. Members of the public subsequently encouraged her to provide her bank details so they could support her.
She said donations came from different people until VeryDarkMan publicly questioned her cancer claims and demanded evidence to support the appeal.
Blessing CEO disclosed that contributions stopped shortly after the activist released his video.
“When I saw the video, immediately he (VeryDarkMan) made that video, the donation stopped. The donation paused. So I’m like, what do I do? What do I do? That was where the whole orchestration and resolving and all that stuff came,” she said.
She added that she was not proud of her actions.
The admission contradicts her earlier position during the controversy, which began in March when she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and appealed for financial assistance for treatment.
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In an April interview with content creator Egungun of Lagos, she acknowledged receiving N13m in donations but maintained that she did not owe anyone an apology.
At the time, she attributed the uncertainty surrounding her diagnosis to possible miscommunication and said she was still seeking clarification from her doctors.
However, the Delta State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association later disowned a histology report circulated in connection with her cancer claim. The association said the document was originally issued to another patient, Deborah Mbara, and not Blessing CEO.
The EFCC subsequently arraigned her on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, forgery and other alleged offences relating to the N13m donations.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges. The commission alleged that she used a falsified medical report to solicit money from members of the public. The allegations remain before the court.
The cancer-related case is one of three fraud cases instituted against the social media personality by the EFCC.
In a separate matter, she was arraigned over an alleged N36m fraud involving a property transaction and was granted N10m bail in June.
She is also facing trial over an alleged N69.15m fraud involving a five-year lease of a property in Lekki, Lagos, which the EFCC alleged she falsely presented as her own. The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja granted her N20m bail in July.
During proceedings on October 26, a prosecution witness, Dr Onuoha Okeigwe, told the court that Blessing CEO allegedly misrepresented herself as the property’s owner before collecting the money.
Okeigwe maintained under cross-examination that he relied on her representations, including WhatsApp conversations and other documents, before making the payment.
He also told the court that he had filed a separate civil suit seeking to recover more than N100m allegedly spent on renovating the property. The criminal trial was adjourned until January 12, 2027, for the prosecution to present additional witnesses.
Blessing CEO pleaded not guilty to the charges in both separate fraud cases.
She was released from custody in late October after spending months at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre. Her detention also coinc
