Lola Akinlade and her family are on the verge of deportation from Canada after it was discovered that she used a fraudulent university acceptance letter to secure her study and work permits.
Akinlade, who graduated from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019, claims she was unaware that the letter provided by an agent in Lagos for the University of Regina in 2016 was fake.
The discovery came just weeks before her graduation when she received a letter from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stating that one of the documents she used to enter Canada was fraudulent.
The letter asked her to explain herself—a charge Akinlade said she was unaware of until IRCC informed her.
This revelation has left Akinlade and her family in Canada without immigration status and with little to fall back on if they return to Nigeria.
Akinlade expressed her devastation upon realizing she had relied on a fake document for her study permit. “That was the beginning of my trauma,” she told CBS News.
Statistics released by IRCC and the experiences of those working in the field suggest that many other international students in Canada could be in a similar situation.
Since IRCC began a new process to screen international student acceptance letters in December 2023, it has found over 9,000 examples of fake letters, indicating that Akinlade’s case is not unique.
Akinlade is now appealing to IRCC to reexamine her case, arguing that she was a victim of a “rogue agent” who supplied her with the fake letter.
“Please look into my file,” she pleaded. “I just want this to be sorted out.”
Akinlade’s journey to study in Canada began in 2015 when she was working as a medical sales representative in Lagos with a business administration degree from a Nigerian university.
She met with a man who claimed to be an immigration consultant and promised to guide her through the process of becoming an international student.
Akinlade provided the agent with her documents and payment, and several months later, she received a study permit, plane tickets, and an acceptance letter to the University of Regina.
Upon her arrival in Canada in late December 2016, Akinlade was informed by the agent that there were no spaces available at the university and that she would be placed on a waitlist.
Determined to study, she searched for a new school and program, eventually enrolling at Nova Scotia Community College for a social services program starting in September 2017.
It wasn’t until two years later, when she received the letter from IRCC, that she learned the acceptance letter was fake.
“I was kind of skeptical [after getting the IRCC letter] because I thought that wasn’t real, like a miscommunication or something,” she said.
“So immediately I contacted [the] University of Regina. And that was when I learned the truth.”
Since arriving in Canada, Akinlade has had little contact with the agent in Nigeria.
However, CBC exchanged text messages with Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, the agent who coordinated her Canadian university and study permit application.
Adegoke admitted to providing Akinlade with the acceptance letter but claimed it was given to him by a company called Success Academy Education Consult, which has since moved to an unknown location.
He expressed surprise that the letter was fake and denied telling Akinlade she would be on a waitlist at the University of Regina.
Adegoke informed CBC that he no longer offers study permit services and has not dealt with Success Academy Education Consult since 2018.
Despite CBC’s attempts to locate the company, no business matching its description was found.
