The United Nations Children’s Fund has withdrawn its scam alert issued against Hon Opeyemi David Falegan, the ex-boyfriend of actress, Nkechi Blessing.
Falegan had claimed to be on a fundraising drive for the people of Ukraine with his charity organization, ODF Foundation, in collaboration with UNICEF on his Instagram page, @hon_falegan_official_.
The Nigerian arm of the organisation thereafter debunked the claim via its Instagram page @unicef_nigeria, on Friday, tagging it a “scam”.
Despite the alert, Falegan posted a video on his Instagram page to support his claim that he had indeed raised £61 to be donated to UNICEF’s relief efforts in Ukraine.
The video demonstrated how a link was generated from UNICEF’s Instagram page to create a fundraiser on his personal page.
The Instagram donation feature ensures that donations made with the link will be directly remitted to the organisation’s account.
However, Falegan also solicited funds and added bank account details for his foundation in the fundraising post.
On Monday, the Nigerian branch of UNICEF made a U-turn, by deleting the scam alert post.
‘‘The organisation via its Instagram page, @unicef_nigeria, also clarified that the alert was issued because Falegan tried to promote his charity organisation while raising funds in the name of UNICEF.
“We are aware that funds can be raised for UNICEF with the Instagram feature that allows users to raise funds for an organization of their choice,” the caption read. “However, no aspect of the fundraiser should include an unauthorized promotion, support, or fundraising for another organisation.
“We discourage intended or unintended affiliations with organizations we do not have a partnership with. In instances where this occurs, UNICEF can issue an alert through our office in the country where the unauthorized activity took place or where the organization operates.
“We have taken down the post with the scam alert as the fundraising activity in question has been discontinued.”
