Blessing CEO admits faking cancer diagnosis for donations

Nkereuwem Effiong

Social media personality Blessing Okoro, popularly known as Blessing CEO, has admitted to falsely claiming to have breast cancer to solicit financial donations from members of the public.

She confessed during an interview with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, in a video shared on Thursday.

Blessing CEO said she fabricated the cancer diagnosis because of financial pressure arising from a dispute involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and a man identified as Dr Onuoha Okeigwe.

She explained that a medical examination had revealed a lump in her breast but that the growth was not cancerous. However, she admitted to exploiting the discovery by telling the public that she had cancer to attract sympathy and financial assistance.

“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.

She disclosed that she initially suggested selling some of her personal belongings, including her car and house, before members of the public encouraged her to share her bank details to receive financial assistance.

According to her, donations began arriving from different people until VeryDarkMan publicly challenged her cancer claims and demanded evidence to substantiate her fundraising appeal.

She said the donations stopped immediately after the activist questioned her diagnosis.

“When I saw the video, immediately he (VeryDarkMan) made that video, the donation stopped. The donation paused,” she said.

Blessing CEO admitted that she was not proud of her actions.

The confession marks a reversal of her earlier claims during the controversy, which erupted in March 2026 after she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and appealed for financial support for treatment.

In an April interview with content creator Egungun of Lagos, she acknowledged receiving about ₦13m in donations but insisted that she owed nobody an apology.

The Delta State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association subsequently disowned a histology report circulated in connection with her cancer claims. The association said the report had originally been issued to another patient, Deborah Mbara, and not Blessing CEO.

The EFCC later arraigned her on a six-count charge bordering on alleged obtaining of money by false pretence, forgery and other offences relating to the ₦13m donations.

The commission alleged that she used a falsified medical report to deceive members of the public into making financial contributions. She pleaded not guilty, and the allegations remain before the court.

The cancer-related case is one of three fraud cases involving the social media personality.

In a separate case, she was arraigned over an alleged ₦36m fraud involving a property transaction and granted ₦10m bail in June.

She is also facing trial over an alleged ₦69.15m fraud involving a five-year lease of a property in Lekki, Lagos. The EFCC accused her of falsely presenting herself as the property’s owner before collecting the money. She pleaded not guilty and was granted ₦20m bail in July.

During proceedings on October 26, prosecution witness Dr Onuoha Okeigwe told the court that he relied on her representations, including WhatsApp conversations and other documents, before making the payment.

Okeigwe also disclosed that he had filed a separate civil suit seeking to recover more than ₦100m allegedly spent renovating the property.

The court adjourned the case until January 12, 2027, for the prosecution to present additional witnesses. Blessing CEO was released from custody in late October after spending months at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre.