It was not uncommon for Uwaoma Susan Joseph to post on Facebook, where she has 131k followers, about a stranger in need of help. A new kind of benevolent digital baroness, she had organised dozens of giveaways, mostly in partnership with other personalities.
“I don’t know what Chivita used in their drinks, but the drinks taste so nice that if you open one, you’ll be tempted to finish it. Chinedu’m Ije wants to buy for 10 people today. Use it and eat your Sunday rice,” she recently posted, announcing a giveaway for drinks. This type of giveaway had become a digital representation of public benevolence, a staple of Nigerian culture. But Susan also facilitated unconventional forms of generosity.
A few weeks ago, she asked her followers if they could loan someone ₦500k, to be repaid with 5% interest in the first week of April. Through posts like these, she built a close-knit online community of givers and receivers.
October 2024: How it started
Ogechi Okechukwu first reached out to Susan in October 2024 using the number listed on her page. She explained that she was sick and needed help. Ogechi shared that she had undergone multiple surgeries for intestinal obstructions, but her pain had returned. Susan declined to start a fundraiser at the time because she was busy and wouldn’t have time to manage the campaign.
Ogechi reached out again in November and December, so Susan decided to have a video call with her. During the call, Susan said Ogechi vomited blood. Ogechi told her she needed surgery urgently or she would die. She showed Susan the scars and stitches on her stomach and explained that the procedure would cost ₦2.8 million. She also revealed that some of her fingers had been amputated due to complications.
In January, Ogechi reached out again, but Susan was still occupied.
February 5, 2025: Public announcement
On February 5, Susan made a post about someone who had contacted her seeking financial assistance for surgery. She hadn’t heard from Ogechi in a while but had been thinking about the woman who vomited blood during their video call in December. “It was just God telling me to do this,” she later told her followers.
In the comments, Ogechi revealed that she was the one in need of help. Her audience immediately began asking questions — where the surgery would take place, why it was so expensive, and why her fingers had been amputated. One of her followers mentioned that a similar surgery in Port Harcourt had cost under a million naira. They wanted to know exactly how the money would be spent.
February 7, 2025: “Let’s start where the story started”
On February 7, Susan went live on Facebook with Ogechi so she could answer the growing list of questions from her followers.
“Let’s start where the story started,” Ogechi said during the livestream. She explained that she had undergone three surgeries. In 2022, she started feeling sharp pain in her stomach and had an emergency procedure to remove intestinal adhesions. Since then, she had undergone two more surgeries in 2023 and 2024. She displayed her scars on camera.
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She said that in 2023, she was treated for intestinal obstruction and pelvic peritonitis, which was also the reason for her 2024 surgery and why she needed another one now. She showed her left hand, revealing missing fingers, which she claimed resulted from a reaction to medication for her intestinal condition.
Ogechi said that at Yenagoa Hospital, where she worked, doctors had estimated her surgery would cost ₦2.8 million. However, she had lost her job after her pain returned. She had done scans and tests and promised to share them, but she only had one phone with a camera, making it difficult.
“I met our gynecologist, and she told me to do an X-ray,” Ogechi said. She spent ₦95,000 on a CT scan, which she claimed revealed several medical issues. “They saw a lot of things,” she said.
Ogechi said her doctors had placed her on conservative management — a non-surgical approach involving vitamin supplements and IV drips, with no solid food. When Susan asked how much had been raised, Ogechi showed her phone balance: ₦393k. They needed ₦2.8 million.
Someone suggested she go to Federal Medical Centre Yenagoa (FMC) Yenagoa because it would be cheaper.
Susan said Ogechi had initially raised ₦200k but spent the money on routine pain medications. Susan reposted Ogechi’s account details, and they raised ₦475k, allowing her to go to FMC.
In the week of February 10, 2025: FMC Yenagoa
Susan did a live video with Ogechi at FMC, where Ogechi held an FMC folder with her name on it. Susan was surprised by how quickly things progressed but was happy that surgery was finally happening. However, they still needed ₦135k for the procedure at FMC. Factoring in food, drugs, and other materials, they estimated they needed as much as ₦800k.
Susan instructed Ogechi to pay what had been raised as a deposit. Ogechi sent updates, including documents with FMC letterheads, prescriptions, and test results. One document listed required items totaling ₦50,300.
Then, Ogechi told Susan that FMC didn’t accept deposits. This raised concerns for Susan, who wanted to speak to the doctor to confirm why a Nigerian government hospital wouldn’t accept a deposit — and to ensure she wasn’t being scammed. Ogechi provided the contact of a doctor named Brian.
When Susan called the number, there was no response. Later, Ogechi told her she had transferred all the money to the doctor’s account. Susan asked for the account details and received a GTBank account number, but it was not Brian’s. There was no Brian. The name on the account was Braye. Dr. Kenseimo Braye Lambert of FMC.
In the week of February 17, 2025: Dr. Kenseimo Braye Lambert
Susan tried calling the doctor again on February 15 and 16 but got no response. On February 17, a Monday, Dr. Braye finally called back, explaining that she had been in church on Sunday. Ogechi sent Susan debit alerts confirming the payment. Dr. Braye assured Susan that the surgery would happen but mentioned that FMC didn’t accept deposits. Susan told the doctor she was good for the ₦800k. The doctor told her that now that she had seen the deposit the surgery would happen on Sunday, February 23.
That Monday afternoon, Susan texted the doctor to confirm the date of the surgery. “Can’t wait,” she said. That was when the doctor mentioned that the surgery might not happen because FMC had no power supply.
Susan was frustrated. “It’s a shame and a slap for you to say that there is no light at FMC Yenagoa. The problem was money, and we raised it. Now you’re saying there’s no light?” she told the doctor. “This is beginning to look suspicious. I will drag you.”
In a radio interview on February 25, Susan recalled seeing people charging their phones at FMC. When she confronted the doctor about it, she was told the hospital was solar-powered — but the surgical unit handling Ogechi’s case had no solar connection.
She asked that Ogechi be moved to a solar-powered ward. The doctor told her not to teach her her job. They fought, and someone ended the call.
February 22, 2025: Surgery weekend
On February 22, Susan received a frantic call from Ogechi. She asked if she had followers at Yenagoa that could volunteer to check up on her. A woman named Victory volunteered. Victoria went to Ogechi’s house and took her to FMC. That night, Susan asked Victoria why the surgery hadn’t happened yet. Victoria asked around but found no records of a scheduled procedure, so she slept at FMC with Ogechi. By morning, Victoria had left the hospital.
Shortly after, Susan said she saw a post from Ogechi asking for money to buy blood, claiming she had undergone the surgery.
When Victoria returned, she didn’t find Ogechi at the hospital. But on a video call, Ogechi showed Susan her stomach, covered in plaster and cotton wool. “At that point, I knew I had been scammed,” Susan said.
February 23, 2025: Matters Arising
Susan later received a call from someone claiming to be Dr. Braye’s brother. He told her that Ogechi had scammed his sister. But Susan told him his sister sounded like “an accomplice.”
That was when she went on Facebook and made the viral “Matters Arising” post.
“Matters Arising!! Ogechukwu that said she did surgery have left the hospital already.,before victoria who slept at the hospital with her could reach there …The doctor that have been speaking with me and said she is in charge of her surgery works in FMC but na Arrangeee them do… (She wasnt in charge of any Surgery) Ended up being that No surgery was to be carried out …”
February 23, 2025: #OgechiChallenge
Multiple people have since come forward, claiming that Ogechi had scammed them. As part of an #OgechiChallenge, dozens of Facebook users wore cannulas to ridicule what they say is her acting.
Ogechi and Dr Braye have since been arrested by the police. A spokesperson for FMC confirmed that Dr. Braye is a legitimate doctor at the hospital and is currently in police custody. They also stated that Ogechi was admitted last weekend and underwent some tests but was never booked for any surgery. If she had a cannula in the video, they said it was from the tests and not a surgical procedure. FMC further revealed that Ogechi had previously been admitted for a few days in November last year but was also not scheduled for any surgeries at that time.
FMC added that they do not “have the right to divulge any patient information.” They also noted that some of the photos Ogechi shared online and with Susan were not taken at a hospital. Additionally, they stated that she left the hospital against medical advice.
