The family of Mayowa Ahmed has denied claims its fund raiser to fly the University of Lagos graduate abroad for cancer surgery was not a scam.
The family had raised $100,847 via crowdfunding site gofundme.com, backed by popular Nigerians, including actress Toyin Aimakhu.
Additional donations, reportedly running into millions were also received via a bank account provided by her family.
However, on Thursday, Blogger Linda Ikeji reported that the #SaveMayowa campaign was a scam, sparking controversy on the social media.
According to the LIB report, actress Toyin Aimakhu, who played a major role in soliciting funds, had reported the family to the police.
It also claimed that doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital had said that they refused to give the family a referral for treatment abroad as no hospital could save her.
The report divided Nigerians on the social media with some expressing anger and disgust at the family and others criticising the blogger and LUTH for insinuating that the family shouldn’t have pursued further treatment after being informed Mayowa’s cancer was at stage 4.
Amid the controversy, the family issued a statement, insisting that they did not deceive Nigerians and that they had contacted hospitals abroad and were concluding arrangements to fly her abroad for treatment as planned.
In the statement, the Ahmed family explained that it had also contacted Flying Doctors to fly Mayowa to Dubai for treatment, while providing evidence of correspondence with a hospital abroad
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