Business
[ICYMI] Ex-employees Narrate How UK firm’s director deceived, extorted Nigerians with fake sponsorships, care jobs
[ICYMI] Ex-employees Narrate How UK firm’s director deceived, extorted Nigerians with fake sponsorships, care jobs
In this feature, VICTOR AYENI writes about how the director of a United Kingdom-based social care recruiting agency, Lekan Ayuba, allegedly used his former employees to lure in applicants and amass wealth through dubious promises of care jobs and non-existent Certificates of Sponsorship
In the “About Us” section of the website of Click Operations, a United Kingdom-based firm, it described itself as “a healthcare recruitment agency” that helps to “recruit and re-train a team of highly trained, compassionate, and dedicated care workers” providing care throughout the UK.
A care worker, according to a British home learning website, www.ncchomelearning.co.uk, is “a trained professional who supports other people in all aspects of their daily life” which includes preparing and eating meals, socialising, physical activities, and medical support.
While some care workers work in care homes, others are employed on a contract basis in patient’s homes, while domiciliary carers travel to different people’s houses in the community.
Unfortunately, many Nigerian applicants who relied on the director of Click Operations, Lekan Ayuba, to provide them with their Certificates of Sponsorship to enable them to enter the UK, have described the claims on his agency’s website as “mere window dressing to lure in desperate people.”
According to the latest State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce Report, 9.9 per cent of positions in the care industry in the UK were vacant between 2022 and 2023, which is equivalent to 152,000 vacancies being advertised on an average day.
As a result of this shortfall, many UK employers rely on recruiting adult social care workers from other countries such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and India.
Some of these applicants, now stranded in Nigeria, told Saturday PUNCH that they frittered millions of naira on medical tests, international driving licences, police reports, and obtaining the CoS to travel to the UK, but Ayuba reportedly kept postponing the delivery of their CoS.
The applicants also alleged that since last year when they parted with their money, Ayuba refused to refund them and abruptly stopped communicating with them.
A travel agent, Funmilayo Dan-Musa, alleged that her 18-year-old nephew who needed to be flown to the UK for medical treatment died while Ayuba kept deceitfully delaying her after he collected monies for application, documentation, and health insurance from her.
She further stated that Ayuba had blocked her along with other primary applicants on his social media accounts and left her indebted to the people she recommended him to.
After their stories were published by Saturday PUNCH two weeks ago, some former Nigerian employees who worked with Ayuba in the UK, contacted our correspondent and accused him of using them to get more clients and amassing wealth for himself.
However, citing security reasons, the ex-employees preferred not to have their full names disclosed.
They accused Ayuba of financially extorting people by promising to issue them CoS, refusing to refund them their money, owing his former staff, and arbitrarily removing them from the company when they stopped bringing applicants to his agency.
He made money deceiving people’
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, a former Business Development Manager at Click Operations, simply known as Mr Joel, said Ayuba met him in a church in 2022, where he told him that he owned a care agency and that he had lots of contracts all over the UK.
This, he alleged, was later found to be untrue, after he was employed by the agency and he realised it had only a client.
“Ayuba begged me to work with him to build the business and I agreed. He (Ayuba) would often give instructions about which accounts we were to transfer the money from applicants. Some of this money was transferred to his account, some of which he refunded but left with £180,000.
“Most of his dealings with these people were based on lies, so when these people started asking for refunds, he would deceive them. Because we didn’t have access to his lawyer, he was the only one communicating with his lawyer, so whatever he told us was what we relied upon as the director of the company.
“It was much later we realised that he wasn’t who we thought he was. Now, he has gone incommunicado; he has blocked us on WhatsApp and changed his number. He sent someone to tell us that he’s a British citizen and nobody can do anything to him. He threatened that if we ever came to his house, he would call the police on us,” Joel said.
Joel’s wife, Ruth alleged that although Ayuba made some refunds to some of the people they brought who paid for their recruitment process, he still owed them a total of £180,000.
She said, “Lekan signed a document with one of the people who paid him where he stated how much he was owing us and how he intended to fully refund. We have evidence of this.
“We held a meeting with Lekan where a clergyman tried to settle us amicably, and in this meeting, Ayuba admitted to taking the sum of £180,000 from us and promised to pay up in August 2024.
“People are dragging us left and right for recommending him to them, people are crying because of the money he withheld. What we want for Lekan Ayuba to come up and refund their money and stop hiding.”
Also speaking with Saturday PUNCH, a former manager at the company who gave her name as Deola said she became friends with Ayuba in 2020 and through her, got his firm registered with the Care Quality Commission, a government agency that regulates all health and social care services in the UK.
“Before you can run a domiciliary healthcare in the UK, you need to be regulated by the CQC and go through a registration process. You’d need a registered manager and a nominated individual. Lekan knew I had the experience and right qualifications, so he asked me to join his team and I agreed. I got his business registered in November 2023,” she revealed.
Deola alleged that Ayuba deceived her to believe that he had a contract but it was the CQC registration that was delaying it.
“He asked me to bring people to pay for the recruitment process and they gave him money. All the money I gave him was cash and he sent one of his employees to come and pick up the money from my house. That was between September 2023 and January 2024. Thousands of pounds from people were also given to Lekan which were picked up in cash under his instructions by former employees of his organisation.
“Eventually, the middleman and some individuals confronted Ayuba at his house, and the police got involved. He lied that they wanted to kidnap him. This led to the middleman’s arrest and Ayuba also accused me of being the mastermind of the kidnap, and denied collecting any money from me,” she added.
Duping the desperate
A former Director of Operations at Click Operations, Theresa Omotayo, said when she met Ayuba through a colleague, he assured her that he was building a care company, which led her to resign from her previous job and join his team.
She added, “Ayuba offered me a job with sponsorship and told me about his contracts in several parts of the UK, and his plan to provide training for international candidates that he intended to sponsor.
“It was when I joined the company that I discovered that his company didn’t have numerous contracts like he claimed. He didn’t even have the CQC accreditation to sponsor caregivers.
“He got me involved in training international candidates on soft skills, asking me to create a relevant and complete curriculum and not rush the training, as he wanted the carers to be well trained and grounded before their arrival into the country. I didn’t know he had already charged these candidates and was buying himself more time with the training.”
Business
BUA Foods Records 91% Surge in Profit After Tax, Hits ₦508bn in 2025
BUA Foods Records 91% Surge in Profit After Tax, Hits ₦508bn in 2025
By femi Oyewale
Business
Adron Homes Unveils “Love for Love” Valentine Promo with Exciting Discounts, Luxury Gifts, and Travel Rewards
Adron Homes Unveils “Love for Love” Valentine Promo with Exciting Discounts, Luxury Gifts, and Travel Rewards
In celebration of the season of love, Adron Homes and Properties has announced the launch of its special Valentine campaign, “Love for Love” Promo, a customer-centric initiative designed to reward Nigerians who choose to express love through smart, lasting real estate investments.
The Love for Love Promo offers clients attractive discounts, flexible payment options, and an array of exclusive gift items, reinforcing Adron Homes’ commitment to making property ownership both rewarding and accessible. The campaign runs throughout the Valentine season and applies to the company’s wide portfolio of estates and housing projects strategically located across Nigeria.
Speaking on the promo, the company’s Managing Director, Mrs Adenike Ajobo, stated that the initiative is aimed at encouraging individuals and families to move beyond conventional Valentine gifts by investing in assets that secure their future. According to the company, love is best demonstrated through stability, legacy, and long-term value—principles that real estate ownership represents.
Under the promo structure, clients who make a payment of ₦100,000 receive cake, chocolates, and a bottle of wine, while those who pay ₦200,000 are rewarded with a Love Hamper. Payments of ₦500,000 attract a Love Hamper plus cake, and clients who pay ₦1,000,000 enjoy a choice of a Samsung phone or a Love Hamper with cake.
The rewards become increasingly premium as commitment grows. Clients who pay ₦5,000,000 receive either an iPad or an all-expenses-paid romantic getaway for a couple at one of Nigeria’s finest hotels, which includes two nights’ accommodation, special treats, and a Love Hamper. A payment of ₦10,000,000 comes with a choice of a Samsung Z Fold 7, three nights at a top-tier resort in Nigeria, or a full solar power installation.
For high-value investors, the Love for Love Promo delivers exceptional lifestyle experiences. Clients who pay ₦30,000,000 on land are rewarded with a three-night couple’s trip to Doha, Qatar, or South Africa, while purchasers of any Adron Homes house valued at ₦50,000,000 receive a double-door refrigerator.
The promo covers Adron Homes’ estates located in Lagos, Shimawa, Sagamu, Atan–Ota, Papalanto, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Osun, Ekiti, Abuja, Nasarawa, and Niger States, offering clients the opportunity to invest in fast-growing, strategically positioned communities nationwide.
Adron Homes reiterated that beyond the incentives, the campaign underscores the company’s strong reputation for secure land titles, affordable pricing, strategic locations, and a proven legacy in real estate development.
As Valentine’s Day approaches, Adron Homes encourages Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to take advantage of the Love for Love Promo to enjoy exceptional value, exclusive rewards, and the opportunity to build a future rooted in love, security, and prosperity.
Business
Why Nigeria’s Banks Still on Shaky Ground with Big Profits, Weak Capital
*Why Nigeria’s Banks Still on Shaky Ground with Big Profits, Weak Capital*
*BY BLAISE UDUNZE*
Despite the fragile 2024 economy grappling with inflation, currency volatility, and weak growth, Nigeria’s banking industry was widely portrayed as successful and strong amid triumphal headlines. The figures appeared to signal strength, resilience, and superior management as the Tier-1 banks such as Access Bank, Zenith Bank, GTBank, UBA, and First Bank of Nigeria, collectively reported profits approaching, and in some cases exceeding, N1 trillion. Surprisingly, a year later, these same banks touted as sound and solid are locked in a frenetic race to the capital markets, issuing rights offers and public placements back-to-back to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N500 billion recapitalisation thresholds.
The contradiction is glaring. If Nigeria’s biggest banks are so profitable, why are they unable to internally fund their new capital requirements? Why have no fewer than 27 banks tapped the capital market in quick succession despite repeated assurances of balance-sheet robustness? And more fundamentally, what do these record profits actually say about the real health of the banking system?
The recapitalisation directive announced by the CBN in 2024 was ambitious by design. Banks with international licences were required to raise minimum capital to N500 billion by March 2026, while national and regional banks faced lower but still substantial thresholds ranging from N200 billion to N50 billion, respectively. Looking at the policy, it was sold as a modern reform meant to make banks stronger, more resilient in tough times, and better able to support major long-term economic development. In theory, strong banks should welcome such reforms. In practice, the scramble that followed has exposed uncomfortable truths about the structure of bank profitability in Nigeria.
At the heart of the inconsistency is a fundamental misunderstanding often encouraged by the banks themselves between profits and capital. Unknown to many, profitability, no matter how impressive, does not automatically translate into regulatory capital. Primarily, the CBN’s recapitalisation framework actually focuses on money paid in by shareholders when buying shares, fresh equity injected by investors over retained earnings or profits that exist mainly on paper.
This distinction matters because much of the profit surge recorded in 2024 and early 2025 was neither cash-generative nor sustainably repeatable. A significant portion of those headline banks’ profits reported actually came from foreign exchange revaluation gains following the sharp fall of the naira after exchange-rate unification. The industry witnessed that banks’ holding dollar-denominated assets their books showed bigger numbers as their balance sheets swell in naira terms, creating enormous paper profits without a corresponding improvement in underlying operational strength. These gains inflated income statements but did little to strengthen core capital, especially after the CBN barred banks from using FX revaluation gains for dividends or routine operations. In effect, banks looked richer without becoming stronger.
Beyond FX effects, Nigerian banks have increasingly relied on non-interest income fees, charges, and transaction levies to drive profitability. While this model is lucrative, it does not necessarily deepen financial intermediation or expand productive lending. High profits built on customer charges rather than loan growth offer limited support for long-term balance-sheet expansion. They also leave banks vulnerable when macroeconomic conditions shift, as is now happening.
Indeed, the recapitalisation exercise coincides with a turning point in the monetary cycle. The extraordinary conditions that supported bank earnings in 2024 and 2025 are beginning to unwind. Analysts now warn that Nigerian banks are approaching earnings reset, as net interest margins the backbone of traditional banking profitability, come under sustained pressure.
Renaissance Capital, in a January note, projects that major banks including Zenith, GTCO, Access Holdings, and UBA will struggle to deliver earnings growth in 2026 comparable to recent performance.
In a real sense, the CBN is expected to lower interest rates by 400 to 500 basis points because inflation is slowing down, and this means that banks will earn less on loans and government bonds, but they may not be able to quickly lower the interest they pay on deposits or other debts. The cash reserve requirements are still elevated, which does not earn interest; banks can’t easily increase or expand lending investments to make up for lower returns. The implications are significant. Net interest margin, the difference between what banks earn on loans and investments and what they pay on deposits, is poised to contract. Deposit competition is intensifying as lenders fight to shore up liquidity ahead of recapitalisation deadlines, pushing up funding costs. At the same time, yields on treasury bills and bonds, long a safe and lucrative haven for banks are expected to soften in a lower-rate environment. The result is a narrowing profit cushion just as banks are being asked to carry far larger equity bases.
Compounding this challenge is the fading of FX revaluation windfalls. With the naira relatively more stable in early 2026, the non-cash gains that once flattered bank earnings have largely evaporated. What remains is the less glamorous reality of core banking operations: credit risk management, cost efficiency, and genuine loan growth in a sluggish economy. In this new environment, maintaining headline profits will be far harder, even before accounting for the dilutive impact of recapitalisation.
That dilution is another underappreciated consequence of the capital rush. Massive share issuances mean that even if banks manage to sustain absolute profit levels, earnings per share and return on equity are likely to decline. Zenith, Access, UBA, and others are dramatically increasing their share counts. The same earnings pie is now being divided among many more shareholders, making individual returns leaner than during the pre-recapitalisation boom. For investors, the optics of strong profits may soon give way to the reality of weaker per-share performance.
Yet banks have pressed ahead, not only out of regulatory necessity but also strategic calculation.
During this period of recapitalization, investors are interested in the stock market with optimism, especially about bank shares, as banks are raising fresh capital, and this makes it easier to attract investments. This has become a season for the management teams to seize the moment to raise funds at relatively attractive valuations, strengthen ownership positions, and position themselves for post-recapitalisation dominance. In several cases, major shareholders and insiders have increased their stakes, as projected in the media, signalling confidence in long-term prospects even as near-term returns face pressure.
There is also a broader structural ambition at play. Well-capitalised banks can take on larger single obligor exposures, finance infrastructure projects, expand regionally, and compete more credibly with pan-African and global peers. From this perspective, recapitalisation is not merely about compliance but about reshaping the competitive hierarchy of Nigerian banking. What will be witnessed in the industry is that those who succeed will emerge larger, fewer, and more powerful. Those that fail will be forced into consolidation, retreat, or irrelevance.
For the wider economy, the outcome is ambiguous. Stronger banks with deeper capital buffers could improve systemic stability and enhance Nigeria’s ability to fund long-term development. The point is that while merging or consolidating banks may make them safer, it can also harm the market and the economy because it will reduce competition, let a few banks dominate, and encourage them to earn easy money from bonds and fees instead of funding real businesses. The truth be told, injecting more capital into the banks without complementary reforms in credit infrastructure, risk-sharing mechanisms, and fiscal discipline, isn’t enough as the aforementioned reforms are also needed.
The rush as exposed in this period, is that the moment Nigerian banks started raising new capital, the glaring reality behind their reported profits became clearer, that profits weren’t purely from good management, while the financial industry is not as sound and strong as its headline figures. The fact that trillion-naira profit banks must return repeatedly to shareholders for fresh capital is not a sign of excess strength, but of structural imbalance.
With the deadline for banks to raise new capital coming soon, by 31 March 2026, the focus has shifted from just raising N500 billion. N200 billion or N50 billion to think about the future shape and quality of Nigeria’s financial industry, or what it will actually look like afterward. Will recapitalisation mark a turning point toward deeper intermediation, lower dependence on speculative gains, and stronger support for economic growth? Or will it simply reset the numbers while leaving underlying incentives unchanged?
The answer will define the next chapter of Nigerian banking long after the capital market roadshows have ended and the profit headlines have faded.
Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]
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