A fierce supporter of the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Mr. James Damilola Taiwo and an Obidient propaganda handle on X (formerly Twitter) @PIDOMNIGERIA are currently in the eyes of the storm following allegations embezzlement of money donated by some Nigerians to support the #EndBackGovernanceProtest across the country.
It started on August 3, which was the third day of the protests, the Obidient propaganda handle @PIDOMNIGERIA tweeted: “Some protesters reached out to me, complaining of their inability to afford food after protesting for the day, even if it is just a meal. Others complain of their inability to transport themselves to designated protest venues closest to them.”
He then went ahead to solicit for donations from the public to transport, feed and provide sachet water for protesters. @PIDOMNIGERIA said, “If you are in support of this initiative, and you wish to feed or transport some random protesters, please send me a DM. You can feed or transport as many as 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 50, or even 100 persons, depending on your capacity. Transportation of 1,500 naira per person, and food of 2,500 per meal.”
It is unclear how much he realised from the fund appeal but it was obvious some willing members of the public began to reach out to him privately to donate. This because three hours later, @PIDOMNIGERIA posted:
“We have raised 1,500 naira for transportation for 40 genuine indigent protesters, to enable them participate in today and tomorrow’s protest. We have also raised 3,000 naira for 20 genuine protesters, to support them in getting at least a plate of food after today or tomorrow’s protest.”
Less than two hours later, he announced that they want to pay for 500 bags of water to help “quench thirst” and called for water vendors who are sure they can supply 30 bags of sachet water to a protest venue near to them to send him a DM.
He posted: “If you are a water vendor, and you are sure you can send 30 bags of sachet water to the closest protest venue near you before payment, please send @PIDOMNIGERIA a DM. We will pay you after delivery, including your transport separately. We want to give out 500 bags of sachet water today, to help in quenching taste.”
From @PIDOMNIGERIA posts, the combined cost of transporting 40 “genuine” protesters at N1,500 each and feeding 20 protesters at N3,000 each is N120,000 while the cost of supplying 500 bags of sachet water is N250,000 if the retail price of N500 per bag is used. This gives a total expenditure of N370,000.
However, on Tuesday August 6th, 2024 @PIDOMNIGERIA came out to reveal that another Obidient protester, Mr. James Damilola Taiwo who assisted him to receive some of the donations from the public for purchase of sachet water has absconded with the money raised by people.
@PIDOMNIGERIA posted:
“See the face of a wanted criminal PAPPY J @pappyyJ @degensmasters
On the 3rd of August, i did a post here on Twitter, asking for support to send sachet water to various protest venues across the country, so we could help in quenching the taste of our #EndBadGovernaceInNigeria protesters in our own little way.
Some good spirited Nigerians reached out to me, and asked for account details to support.
I contacted the criminal whose picture and video is up there. JAMES DAMILOLA TAIWO. I asked him if he could coordinate the fundraising and payment for the water and other things? He said yes, that he can do it. Because me I am tightly engaged with other activities, gathering information and directing people on what to do.
I asked him to send his account details, so donations could be sent in. But I gave him a condition that I must verify every vendor after supply with evidence, before instructing him to make payment.
Mind you, I don’t know this guy physically, I have not met him before, but I have done some background search on him in the past, to get the vital details I need about him. This was because he has been begging me in my DM to carry him along in my investigative journalism journey. He has begged me to help me receive naira donations for me, to support my work, then change it to crypto and send to any wallet of my choice. I told him nope, that I already have different crypto vendors doing that for me. But whenever I need his help or services, I will surely contact him. So that is how we have been chatting from time to time since then.
So on the 3rd of August, when the protest support thing came up, I felt he will be in the best position to handle it, since he is also protesting, and in support of the protest. So I contacted him, and asked for his account details. He sent his Palm pay account (xxxx), which I sent to good spirited Nigerians who were willing to support with water, who had reached out to me via DM.
I personally begged Pappy J not to let me down before I sent out his account. He gave me his word. I sent his account to different persons via DM, and they started donating. Pappy J was updating me, as the donations were coming in, even though the donors were also sending me reciepts via DM, to confirm their donations. After we had realized some substantial amounts of money, I did a post to call for water vendors to take water to different protest venues across Nigeria, with a promise of payment after supply.
Vendors flooded my DM, after which the serious ones took water and supplied. As that was going on, more persons were reaching out to me for the account details, and were donating. As soon as the money got to one million naira, Pappy J stopped replying his messages. He stopped updating me at 856k. But i got more receipts from donors that made it a million plus.
I tried countlessly to message him, he didn’t reply. I felt somehow, but I kept me cool. I was worried because vendors were messaging me, asking for their payment. But Pappy J that was supposed to do the payment has gone cold. (I will post all our conversation screenshots to proof that he is a thief). I was wondering what must have gone wrong, because this young man gave me his word, and I am just giving him his first opportunity to test him. How can he scam protesters? Does he know that he is dealing with PIDOM? The man who can pick the most secret document in AsoRock? These were the questions running in my mind.
I waited from 3rd of August, to 4th of August no reply. I did my little search and discovered that the PalmPay account number xxxxx, is his phone number so I asked some people to call him. He refused to answer his calls. I monitored him on WhatsApp, & saw him come on and off online. He later switched off his phone, and was using only WhatsApp. He felt he was invincible because he is faceless on Twitter, so I can not unmask him, identify him, or locate him. I laughed, but kept my cool.”
From the account of @PIDOMNIGERIA, his fellow Obidient protest organiser ran away with over N1 million donated by people for purchase of sachet water for protesters.
Past record of this particular Mr. James Damilola Taiwo also known as Pappy J, shows that a month to the 2023 presidential election, he called president Bola Tinubu (then presidential candidate of the APC) a thief in post on X. He said, “my mum is asking me about where she’d get her PVC. I’m 100% certain she wants to vote Tinubu. It’s not me that will help her to add one more vote to a thief. She should go and look for a way to get it herself.”
However in a twist to the drama, findings uncovered by a popular twitter “detective”, Luca Brasi (@donortez) showed that Pappy J absconded with the money donated for water as a payback to @PIDOMNIGERIA who had earlier in February orchestrated a public fund raising for one Mofehin Toluwa who they falsely claimed was battling with Lymphoma (a form of cancer). They solicited for funds to help the said Tolu stay on oxygen. @PIDOMNIGERIA allegedly seized the entire money realised from those who donated without giving Pappy J his due share. Obviously, Pappy J bid his time until now to strike back at @PIDOMNIGERIA.
A set of screenshots of conversations shared by Luca Brasi (ostensibly from Pappy J) showed @PIDOMNIGERIA complaining about not being paid by Twitter for six months. Obviously he was referring to X monetisation payment for impressions his X handle generates thanks to his propaganda posts that appeal greatly to the Obidient base. This may have propelled him to initiate fraudulent fund raising schemes at the slightest opportunity. Recently, Mr. Peter Obi celebrated the handle in one his posts on X.
In another screenshot shared by Luca Brasi, it shows a chat history between Pappy J and a Labour Party Chieftain/Obidient, Morris Monye who served as the campaign DG for the 2023 Labour Party Governorship candidate in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV). The chat between the duo reveals that Pappy J had ran some underground assignments for Morris Monye.
