A Nigerian doctor based in the United Kingdom, Dr. Alaneme, has been caught in an undercover BBC investigation allegedly charging foreign workers for job placements that are legally meant to be free.
Dr. Alaneme, who runs CareerEdu, a company promoting global opportunities for young Africans, was secretly recorded offering to pay an undercover journalist £2,000 ($2,600) for each care home vacancy she could secure, with an additional £500 ($650) commission.
“Just get me care homes. I can make you a millionaire,” he was quoted as saying.
The investigation uncovered that Alaneme planned to sell these job slots to Nigerian candidates, despite acknowledging that such placements should not come at a cost.
One victim, identified as Praise, a Nigerian man in his 30s, said he paid over £10,000 ($13,000) to Alaneme for a job in the UK. However, upon arrival, he found that the job did not exist.
“If I had known there was no job, I would not have come here,” he lamented. “Back home in Nigeria, I could at least rely on family for support. Here, I go hungry.”
Despite months of reaching out to both Efficiency for Care—the care company he was supposed to work for—and Alaneme, the promised job never materialized.
The BBC investigation revealed discrepancies in Efficiency for Care’s records. While the company employed an average of 16 people in 2022 and 152 in 2023, it had issued 1,234 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to foreign workers between March 2022 and May 2023, raising concerns about job fraud.
In a secretly recorded conversation, Alaneme explained how migrants could obtain sponsorship for jobs that did not exist, allowing them to relocate anywhere in the UK.
“The advantage of having a CoS unconnected to a job is that you can live anywhere—London, Glasgow, anywhere,” he claimed.
However, the BBC debunked this, noting that migrants on Health and Care Work visas must work in their assigned roles or risk deportation.
In response to the allegations, Alaneme denied any wrongdoing, insisting that CareerEdu is not a recruitment agency and does not charge for jobs.
He stated that the money Praise paid was forwarded to a recruitment agent to cover transportation, accommodation, and training expenses.
“I have never scammed or defrauded anyone in my life. And I never will,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He also claimed that 98% of CareerEdu’s clients successfully secured jobs in the UK, though he admitted that some employers overstated their staffing needs.
Regarding Praise’s case, he maintained: “We provided evidence that every single dime he paid was transferred to the recruiter. Yet, he is bent on tarnishing our hard-earned reputation.”
This case echoes a 2024 UK immigration scam where four Nigerians were sentenced to prison for forging over 2,000 marriage certificates to help people stay in the UK illegally.
With increasing scrutiny on fraudulent job schemes, UK authorities may tighten regulations to prevent further exploitation of foreign workers.
