Actor Williams Uchemba Accused Of Fraud With UN ‘Connection’

Nollywood actor and Instagram comedian Williams Uchemba, who had posed as Nigeria’s youth ambassador to the United Nations (UN), has been accused of fraud.

This came to the fore when Edafe Okporo, a United States-based Nigerian human rights activist, shared a screenshot of a supposed chat thread with the ex-child actor requesting information on how to attend an upcoming UN Youth Assembly event.

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Responding to the request, Uchemba wrote: “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.”

Displeased with the transaction, Okporo contacted the UN Youth Envoy, Jayathma Wickramanayake, who is an aide to the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, who then confirmed that Unchemba was unknown to the organisation.

Wickramanayake said 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.”

Okporo commented under the post: “I am glad it came to your notice when I started the thread it was gruelling.”