Social media personality Blessing Okoro, widely known as Blessing CEO, has admitted that she falsely claimed to have breast cancer in a move intended to attract financial assistance from the public.
The influencer had announced in March that she was battling the disease, prompting public concern and support. However, her subsequent fundraising campaign sparked controversy in April, with critics questioning the authenticity of her health claims.
She later said she received ₦13 million in donations, despite reports suggesting that the amount was as high as ₦100 million.
The issue also attracted the attention of businessman Alafaa Kariboye-Igbo, who claimed to have donated ₦20 million to her and subsequently demanded that she return the money.
Although Blessing had earlier responded to questions about her condition, insisting she did not have stage four breast cancer, she has now admitted that she never had the disease.
She made the revelation during an interview with social media activist VeryDarkMan, explaining that she resorted to the false cancer claim because of financial pressure.
“The pressure was too much, and when the cancer drama came in, because of the pressure, I saw this embarrassment coming, then I said to myself, what stunt can I pull? Then I pull up a cancer stunt,” she said.
Blessing disclosed that a previous medical examination had detected a lump in her breast, but the result showed that it was not cancerous.
“I don’t have cancer. Honestly, I don’t have cancer. But the truth is, I had gone for check up few month ago and they found a lump on my boobs but it was not cancerous.
“So I took advantage of that, came to the media to cry for help and said that it was cancerous. Some people had empathy.”
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She further explained that she did not initially make a direct appeal for donations. Instead, she created the impression that she was considering selling her personal possessions, including her car and house, to raise money.
“I didn’t come out to beg for funds; I am going to be very honest. I played an emotional game. I wanted funds, but I didn’t come out directly to ask. I first of all started by pretending that I wanted to sell my personal belongings, my car, my house, so people had empathy,” she said.
According to her, supporters later advised her to release her account details so that they could contribute financially.
“It was fans who reached out to me and said that if we can do this for an ordinary person not feeling well, why not you as a celebrity. Put out your account number. So that was when I put out my account number.
“Donations were rolling in. I was honoured until VeryDarkMan came and said, ‘Ah, people cannot be donating money for Blessing when there is no evidence.’ Immediately, he made that video; donations paused.
“So, I was like, oh, what do I do? That was when the whole orchestration, results and all that came up. I am not proud of what I did. I was able to raise ₦30 million for the whole cancer drama.”
She admitted that she regretted misleading the public, revealing that the entire fundraising exercise generated ₦30 million.