By Emmanuel Daniji

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An 18-year-old student in Lagos says she may struggle to pay her school fees after allegedly losing access to her entire ₦600,000 savings in a business arrangement with a jewellery company.

The student claims she paid the money into a product scheme operated by Royal Jewelry Co. Ltd but has yet to receive the materials promised or get a refund.

The matter has drawn attention to the business, with the Lagos State Police Command advising anyone who believes they have lost money through the arrangement to submit a formal petition for investigation.

The student, whose identity is being withheld, said she was introduced to the company by its human resources representative, Opeyemi Olukoya.

According to her, the initial arrangement promised participants ₦2,000 for every bracelet produced, with 100 bracelets expected in each box. She said she signed an agreement on October 25, 2026, hoping the opportunity would help her raise money for her education.

She later joined another product scheme reportedly valued at ₦600,000. To meet the payment requirement, she said she paid ₦440,000 as a performance guarantee deposit, added ₦40,000 and rolled over ₦120,000 she had earned from previous work.

Payment records reportedly show that the money was transferred to an account bearing the company’s name with Guaranty Trust Bank.

However, she claimed that after making the payment, she received neither the raw materials for the new scheme nor a refund. She said the money represented her life savings and that she had not yet reported the matter to the police or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Another former sales representative of the company has also alleged that about ₦6 million in personal savings, salaries and commissions was tied up in the business.

In an audio recording, the former representative denied collecting customers’ payments into a personal account, explaining that the role was mainly to respond to enquiries from prospective participants.

The individual also claimed that some customers were advised not to make further payments because officials responsible for updating their accounts were unavailable. The former representative further alleged that a sibling had paid ₦1.2 million into the new scheme.

The allegations against the company and the former representative’s claims have not been independently verified.

Reacting to the complaints, Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, SP Abimbola Adebisi, said she had no official brief on the alleged scheme at the time of inquiry. She, however, explained that this did not necessarily mean no complaint had been made.

Adebisi advised affected customers to visit the nearest police station or submit a written petition to the Commissioner of Police or the appropriate investigative department. She urged them to provide payment receipts, contracts and other relevant documents.

She also explained that investigators would need to examine the circumstances of each transaction to determine whether it involved fraud, obtaining money by false pretence or a civil dispute arising from an unfulfilled agreement.

The police spokesperson added that signing a contract does not automatically rule out criminal liability if evidence of an offence is established.

For the young student, the immediate concern is the ₦600,000 she says she can no longer access and the school fees she hoped the money would cover. The police have urged anyone affected by the arrangement to come forward with formal complaints so the allegations can be properly investigated.