A Nigerian woman abroad has cried out on social media. She ordered dry fish from Nigeria. She paid over ₦2 million for shipping. When the package arrived, she opened it. What she found was not what she paid for. “The sticks inside the fish are more than the whole fish,” she said. Her video and complaint have circulated widely. The fish was mostly sticks. The fish itself was small. She felt cheated.
Nigerians abroad depend on food from home. Dry fish, egusi, crayfish, palm oil and spices are staples. They cannot get the same taste abroad. So they ship. The informal shipping trade is large. Agents in Nigeria buy goods, package them and send them via courier or personal luggage. There is little regulation. Trust is everything. When trust fails, there is no recourse. In 2023, similar complaints emerged about fake honey and adulterated palm oil shipped to the UK. In 2024, a woman in Canada said her pot of egusi was half sand. The pattern is old. Scammers target diaspora customers because they cannot return goods easily.
The woman’s video shows the dry fish. It is broken into pieces. Sticks are visible. She says the sticks outnumber the fish. She spent over ₦2 million on shipping. That sum suggests a large consignment. The fish was likely part of a bulk order. The seller may have padded the package with sticks to increase weight. Heavier packages cost more to ship. The seller may have charged by weight. Or the seller simply cheated. The woman has not named the seller. She has not said where in Nigeria she ordered from. The video is the evidence.
The reaction online was immediate. Some laughed. Others were angry. Many shared similar experiences. The complaint is not just about fish. It is about trust. Diaspora Nigerians send billions home in remittances. They also spend heavily on food imports. When that trust is broken, they stop buying. They tell others to stop. The informal trade suffers.
Winners: The seller, who took the money. Shipping agents, who charged by weight. No one else. Losers: The woman, who lost money and trust. Other diaspora buyers, who face higher suspicion. Legitimate Nigerian food exporters, who lose business. The informal shipping trade, which depends on reputation. Nigeria’s image abroad, which suffers another blow.
Bottom Line: A woman paid ₦2 million to ship fish. She got sticks. The story is funny for a moment. Then it is sad. Diaspora Nigerians send money home and buy Nigerian goods. When sellers cheat them, they stop. The informal trade runs on trust. Trust is fragile. Once broken, it is hard to rebuild.