Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has requested Nigerian student Lola Akinlade to leave the country due to a fake acceptance letter she used to obtain a study visa and work permit.
Akinlade, who completed a diploma in Social Services from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, shared her distressing experience with CBC News.
She was unaware that the acceptance letter provided by an agent for the University of Regina in 2016 was fake until she was contacted by the IRCC a few weeks before her graduation from her new institution.
Upon receiving her diploma, Akinlade felt a mix of happiness and worry upon realizing that she had relied on a fraudulent document to secure her study permit, stating, “I was devastated. That was the beginning of my trauma.”
In an interview, 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 explained that the process of moving to travel to and study in Canada started in 2015 while she was working as a medical sales representative at a pharmaceutical company in Lagos, with a business administration degree from a Nigerian university.
She met an immigration consultant at her office who offered to guide her through the process of becoming an international student by applying for a master’s degree in business administration.
Akinlade did not specify a particular university to the agent, only stating that she wanted to study at a reputable Canadian institution.
She provided the agent with documents such as her passport and university transcripts, along with payment. Several months later, he provided her with a study permit for Canada, plane tickets, and an acceptance letter from the University of Regina.
However, after arriving in Canada, she was informed that there were no spaces available at the university and that she would have to go on a waitlist.
She began independently searching for a new school and programme and eventually enrolled at Nova Scotia Community College for social services, starting in September 2017.
Akinlade stated that she did not directly contact the University of Regina until two years later, when she received a letter from the IRCC informing her that the acceptance letter was fake.
When CBC contacted the agent, Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, he confirmed providing Akinlade with the acceptance letter but said it was supplied by a company located in Ejigbo, Lagos State, called Success Academy Education Consult, which he had hired.
He guided Akinlade through the process of applying to enter Canada but denied telling her that she would have to go on a waitlist at the University of Regina.
Akinlade lost her study permit in Canada due to a fake letter and was denied when she attempted to apply for 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.” As a result, her husband, Samson Akinlade, and their eight-year-old Nigerian-born son, David, lost their temporary resident status.
Their younger son, born in Canada in 2021, has Canadian citizenship but lacks medical coverage due to his parents’ status.
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