Blind bizman loses $1.5million to partner, seeks investors understanding over debt incurred 

Abeokuta, Ogun State-based virtually impaired businessman Johnson Solanke, the founder of Ogo Osupa Media Concept, has asked well-meaning Nigerians to come to his rescue as he’s been enmeshed in a crisis emanating from losing his investment fund that totals $1.5 million to his business partner, Babajide Olufowora, who is a resident of the United States of America. In the same vein, Solake appealed to investors whose money was part of the fund he was swindled to give him time with a promise that he would sort them out.

Speaking in respect of how he was kidnapped and attempts allegedly made on his life by aggrieved investors, Solanke admitted they have a right to be angry but pleaded that it’s only when he’s alive that he will be able to pay back their money, and as such, he pleaded for mercy. He also asked the security agencies not to hesitate to reach out to him if anyone brings his report, as he promised to honor such an invitation.

He narrated how an investment initiative, Plan for Tomorrow, whereby cars are purchased for people who want them for commercial purposes as well as motorcycles, and they make payment installments, was going smoothly until the company started experiencing some challenges when patrons started defaulting on their payments. He further said he went on to go into a business deal with his US-based childhood friend, Sofowora, whom he had reconnected with in Lagos in 2017, and the business was going on. Babajide Sofoworo, according to Solanke, who was based in Philadelphia, was into automobile sales. Solanke said he was using his personal funds for the business until 2021, when he decided to put in investors funds, and all were still running smoothly as they were still making huge profits, which they usually shared at three-month intervals. However, according to Solanke, the situation of things changed in 2024 when he could no longer reach his business partner on the phone when he tried to reach him on the phone since it was about time he was supposed to have returned with the money as usual.

“He was supposed to return with money on the 15th of May, 2024, but his phone number ceased to connect from the 4th of May. That was where I became worried, and I landed in the hospital as a result. It was after my discharge from the hospital that I addressed our investors via our online medium, Ogo Osupa TV. Babajide left for the United States of America with 1.5 million dollars in December 2023 with the expectation to return in May 2024 with three million, one hundred and ten thousand dollars, but never surfaced.” Says Solanke.

In the bid to search for Babajide while he promised investors whose funds had become debts to pay them six months later, he said his efforts were futile even as he was kidnapped twice.

Solanke, therefore, in a video he made at a press briefing, called on the public to declare that he’s not a thief or fraudster. He also called on the security agencies to reach out to him if they get any complaints about him, as he gave assurances that he couldn’t run anywhere. He confessed that the incident has made him an object of mockery, and worse still, efforts to get help to pay the debts have not yielded since no one is willing to lend him money to pay the debt. However, Solanke, who said many don’t believe his kidnap story and are calling for his death on that note, appealed to Nigerians to help him even as he specifically pleaded with the investor whose money is in his hands to give him more time to run around for the money. He said that, as a blind man, there is no way he can run anywhere, and as such, he promised to offset the bill even as he pleaded for more time.

Johnson Solanke