The controversial Save Mayowa Campaign
has added a new twist after the Founder of Lifestake Foundation, Aramide
Kasumu, who was involved in the fundraising, alleged that the family of
the ailing Mayowa Ahmed lied that only N30m had been raised while the
correct amount was N85m.
The campaign was initiated to raise
funds for surgery in a foreign hospital for Mayowa, who is suffering
from ovarian cancer, but there have been allegations that the patient’s
family was using her condition to defraud members of the public.
Kasumu, in a video posted online on
Friday, appeared to have confirmed the allegations when she accused
Mayowa’s family members of lying about the amount that had been raised
for the patient.
She also accused the family members of
attempting to shut out people involved in the fundraising and giving
conflicting information about Mayowa’s situation and the hospital they
intend to take her for treatment.
“The brother came to the public to say they raised N30m when in actual fact, they raised N85m,” she said in the footage.
“They came and said they had a visa when
they didn’t have a visa; they solicited for funds to go to America but
now they are saying they are going to Dubai. A lot of things were not
adding up and they were not being straightforward. We were saying ‘why
are you guys not being straightforward?’ What is our plan?
“And I was like, some things are not
adding up here. I need to know what is going on and my concern is: I
need to know if they are actually going to get Mayowa treated, that they
are not just trying to take advantage of her situation which is my
fight because you got me involved.
“People are asking me questions, I
cannot answer. I sent Mayowa messages, she wasn’t responding. I called
her phones; nobody was explaining anything to me. I said I need answers
so that when people ask me, I can answer.”
Kasumu said that the police had taken over the matter to ensure transparency.
In a related development, the Lagos
State Police Command has frozen the controversial bank account opened to
raise money for Mayowa pending when investigation into allegations of
fraud is concluded.
A statement from the Police Public
Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, on Friday said the state police
commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, “directed full investigation into the
report that the ‘Save Mayowa Campaign’ is a fraud” and that the report
of the investigation will be made public.
The statement said that Kasumu, and two
members of Ahmed family – Mr. Iwaloye Seun and Mrs. Zaneen Ahmed – had
earlier been invited to the command’s headquarters for questioning.
It said in part, “…subsequently, the
command has placed a red alert on the bank account opened in the name of
Mayowa as it has been frozen while effort is ongoing to contact the
managers of Gofundme online account so as to ensure funds raised through
that platform is not fraudulently diverted.
“Investigation will be extended to the
Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, where the patient is
currently undergoing treatment.
The allegations surrounding the case are
that doctors at LUTH had told the Ahmed family that Mayowa’s ailment
had reached a terminal stage and therefore could not be treated, but
that the family had continued to raise money in spite of that.
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