Muyiwa Taiwo, a Lagos State resident, paid N4 million between June 2023 and April 2024 to Beverly Basil, a former staff at an educational consulting firm in Ikeja, to help his wife secure admission into a Canadian institution. However, his wife has yet to leave Nigeria.
According to Taiwo, Basil set out to make money off him while working with Expedia Consult, knowing she had plans to leave Nigeria.
When Taiwo visited Expedia Consult’s office in Ikeja in June 2023 to inquire about securing a graduate school admission in Canada, Basil assured him that his wife’s admission to the Canadian Institute of Management and Technology (CIMT) was 100% guaranteed.
The Lagos resident said he continued to discuss plans with Basil after his visit to Expedia Consult because she was the agent who spoke to him.
Taiwo also said that Basil assured him his wife would be admitted within two weeks if he paid N815,000 for Expedia Consult to process it. True to her word, Taiwo said, CIMT did offer his wife admission for the fall intake of 2023.
Taiwo told FIJ that Basil asked him to pay a $500 commitment fee and another $500 as part of the tuition fee for the letter of admission to be issued after the university admitted his wife, which he did.
“When I initially wanted to pay, she gave me the Admire Consult account and not that of Expedia Consult. She said Expedia Consult had a tax problem and so used Admire Consult. I introduced her to my younger brother’s wife in Dubai, whose N2.5 million is yet to be refunded,” Taiwo told FIJ.
“After we paid the tuition fee, she asked us to pay proof of funds of N1 million, which I did. The N1 million was for proof of funds and documents like tax clearance, car ownership, and house ownership.”
Taiwo said his wife, who should have resumed in September 2023, found the admission odd since Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had not issued her a visa.
“But Basil said we should hold on. In December, we heard nothing from her. By January, she asked us to pay $535 for visa fees for my wife and two children. I paid as she requested,” he recalled.
“On February 14, my wife went for her biometrics. Later on, Basil said that the IRCC was refunding the money because there was no provisional attestation letter attached to her application. Meanwhile, she was to resume in March.
“The school’s letter said they would refund us within six to eight weeks, which was March 25. But to date, we haven’t heard from Basil. After that did not materialise, I paid another $235 for my wife to do an eligibility course, but it went down the drain.”
He said his wife was supposed to resume in September, but in June, Basil became incommunicado. According to him, Basil left Nigeria for France after claiming her son was ill.
“When I called one of her colleagues, they were angry and did not act like they knew her,” Taiwo said.
When FIJ called Basil on Tuesday on WhatsApp for comments, she did not respond. She also did not reply to the WhatsApp message FIJ sent.
FIJ also called and texted Expedia Consult on November 21. They have not responded at press time.
FIJ searched the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) portal for “Admire Consult”, the name Basil was using on WhatsApp, and discovered that Basil Beverly Jennifer Chinyere owns Admire Consult. The firm was registered in 2022.
