Entertainment

BUSTED! Nollywood actor Williams Uchemba exposed for fraud

Published

5 years ago

December 23, 2018

Nollywood actor and Instagram sensation , Williams Uchemba, who had posed as a United Nations ambassador and even met with President Muhammadu Buhari for his work on youth matters in September , has been accused of fraud
United Nations Youth Envoy , Jayathma Wickramanayake , who is an aide to the Secretary – General of the UN , António Guterres , said he was unknown to the organisation .

A United States – based Nigerian human rights activist, Edafe Okporo , had shared a screenshot of a supposed chat thread with Uchemba requesting information on how to attend an upcoming UN Youth Assembly event .

The response from the former child actor read , “ I will need three things from you : passport data page , email address and registration fee ( $ 1 , 000 ) . After payment is confirmed , I will then send you a questionnaire for you to fill and send back .

“ The $ 1 , 000 covers for your United Nations invitation letter ( which is what you will take to the embassy and the UN will also send a copy to the embassy ) which is also registration and admission into the UN HQ, your training materials and certificate from the United Nations , your US visa process and filling of your DA -160 ( online form ) . ”

According to screenshots that went viral on social media , Okporo alerted Wickramanayake , who responded , saying she was working on a message “ to save young people from scams like these . ”

Shortly after , in a statement via her official Twitter account , the UN envoy said , “ It has been brought to my attention that organisations and individuals claim affiliation to my office and the United Nations, promising participation in meetings and conferences upon payment of a fee .

“ Please note : The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage for participating in meetings and conferences . The Office of the United Nations Secretary General ’ s Envoy on Youth does not have country or regional representatives. ”

Uchemba, who is also the brains behind the # GiveChallenge , has garnered over 1 . 4 million followers on Instagram and over 35 , 000 followers due to his many comedy skits .

Attempts to get a reaction from him proved abortive as his telephone indicated that it was switched off while a text message was not responded to as of press time .