January 12,2023

Abayomi Akinwasola, a Lagos-based engineer, has accused Olayinka Ayowole, the founder of Viyola Foods, of defrauding him of N1 million and €2,000.

The engineer told FIJ that rather than pay him the 40 percent return on investment they both agreed on, Ayowole relocated to the United Kingdom, which has caused him more financial problems.

He said the success of his previous investment in Viyola Foods convinced him Ayowole was a genuine business owner but little did he know he was lured into losing his money.

Akinwasola said he invested N1 million in June 2021 to reap N1.4 million after 60 days. The transaction was successful, but Ayowole paid two weeks after the agreed date

He concluded everything seemed okay and thus invested another N1 million and €2,000 on August 9 of the same year. This, according to Akinwasola, was the beginning of his back-and-forth with Viyola Foods.

“I introduced a friend not long after I invested for the second time. Immediately after my friend paid, a problem broke out. Ayowole did not meet the stipulated date of payment. He also did not communicate with us,” Akinwasola said.

“When Ayowole didn’t pay for two months, I started researching him and Viyola Foods. I found something about him written by FIJ. It confirmed my suspicion.”

Akinwasola said Ayowole contacted him in May 2022 and assured him he would pay up within a short time but he failed to keep his word

“In May, he drew up a payment plan but neither kept it, apologised nor came up with another plan,” he told FIJ.

“He told me he goes out for business outside Nigeria. I later found that he had moved out of Nigeria with his family.

“He should have paid me since October 7, 2021, but here I am waiting for a miracle.”

When FIJ called Ayowole and Viyola Foods’ official lines, they did not connect. They had not responded to the texts sent to them at press time.

FIJ had reported how the same Ayowole defrauded two people who invested in his cassava plantation located in Sagamu, Ogun State, of N4.7 million