#SaveMayowa crisis gets messier, police freeze account; Family lied, N85million had been raised not N35million- Lifestake Foundation

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.

Punch