Blessing CEO admits faking cancer diagnosis to raise donations

Social media personality says financial pressure prompted fundraising stunt

Social media personality Blessing Okoro, popularly known as Blessing CEO, has admitted that she falsely claimed to have breast cancer to attract financial donations from members of the public.

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Blessing CEO made the admission during an interview with social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, in a video shared on Thursday.

She attributed the controversy to financial pressure arising from a dispute linked to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) involving Dr Onuoha Okeigwe.

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According to her, she deliberately presented a previously detected breast lump as cancerous in a bid to generate public sympathy and obtain financial assistance.

“The pressure was too much. So what did I do? That was where the cancer drama came in,” she said, explaining that she conceived the idea as a way of responding to the embarrassment she anticipated.

Blessing CEO disclosed that she had undergone a medical examination a few months earlier, during which a lump was detected in her breast. However, she said subsequent findings did not establish that the lump was cancerous.
“Honestly, I do not have cancer. The truth is, I had gone for a check-up a few months ago and they found a lump on my breast, but it was not cancerous,” she said.

She admitted that she took advantage of the discovery by publicly claiming that the lump was cancerous, hoping to receive donations without directly asking Nigerians for money.

“So I took advantage of that, came to the media, cried for help and said that the lump was cancerous. I played an emotional game. I wanted funds, but I didn’t come out directly to ask for funds,” she added.

How Donations Started
Recounting how the fundraising campaign began, Blessing CEO said she initially suggested that she might sell some of her possessions, including her car and house, to raise money.

She said members of the public subsequently encouraged her to release her bank details so they could contribute towards her purported treatment.

According to her, donations came in different amounts before the campaign was interrupted by VeryDarkMan’s public challenge to her cancer claims.

She said the donations stopped after the activist questioned the authenticity of her diagnosis and demanded evidence to substantiate her claims.

“When I saw the video, immediately he made that video, the donation stopped. The donation paused. So I’m like, what do I do?” she recounted.

Blessing CEO said the development subsequently led to what she described as the orchestration and resolution of the controversy.

Regrets Cancer Fundraising Controversy
The social media personality said she regretted her actions, adding that she was not proud of the controversy.
Her latest admission contradicts her earlier defence of the fundraising campaign, which began in March when she announced that she had breast cancer and appealed to Nigerians for financial assistance.

During an interview with content creator Egungun of Lagos in April, she disclosed that she had received ₦13 million in donations but maintained that she had no reason to apologise to anyone.

At the time, she attributed the controversy surrounding her medical condition to possible miscommunication and said she was seeking clarification from her doctors.

Her latest comments amount to an admission that she knowingly misrepresented her medical condition to solicit financial contributions from the public.

The admission has renewed questions about transparency and accountability in online fundraising, particularly campaigns that appeal to public sympathy over medical emergencies.

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