Popular disc jockey and media personality, Tolani Shobajo, better known as Tolanibaj, has accused a former employee, Precious Akiyemi Deborah, of stealing three DJ controllers worth millions of naira from her academy.

Tolanibaj made the allegation in a video shared on her Instagram page, where she detailed how she discovered that the equipment had allegedly been removed from her DJ academy without her authorisation.

According to her, Deborah was hired through a recruiting agency in April as an executive assistant at the academy, where she was responsible for supervising students, providing refreshments, creating behind-the-scenes content and ensuring the smooth running of the academy in Tolanibaj’s absence.

Tolanibaj said she initially had no reason to doubt Deborah, describing her as hardworking and willing to learn. However, she said concerns emerged after the recruiting agency asked her to withhold the employee’s salary because her background check and reference verification had not been completed.

“I hired a young lady called Precious Akiyemi Debora at the end of April. She was to come in as an executive assistant to assist me with my DJ academy,” she said.

She admitted that her trust in Deborah led her to overlook some warning signs, including an allegedly incomplete background check and a document she said she failed to properly verify.

Tolanibaj said she later gave Deborah more than N6 million to purchase four DJ controllers for the academy. According to her, the employee provided receipts and kept her updated throughout the purchase, giving her no immediate reason to suspect wrongdoing.

The former Big Brother Naija housemate said the situation came to light during the academy’s graduation week when her lead instructor asked about the whereabouts of the controllers.

“My lead instructor messages me, ‘Where are the controllers? We’ve not had DJ controllers at the Academy for the past three weeks,’” she recounted.

According to her, Deborah initially claimed the controllers were at the academy but later admitted during a group call that three of them were at her residence.

She said Deborah told the instructors that Tolanibaj had instructed her to remove the equipment for an upgrade, a claim Tolanibaj denied.

“She says, ‘Ma, the controllers are in my house right now,’” Tolanibaj said.

Following the discovery, Tolanibaj said she terminated Deborah’s employment and asked for the equipment to be returned.

However, she alleged that Deborah subsequently became difficult to reach and failed to hand over the equipment as promised.

Tolanibaj said her investigation later uncovered messages suggesting that Deborah was attempting to rent DJ controllers while the academy’s equipment was allegedly in her possession.

She also said she contacted the shop where the four controllers were purchased and was informed that Deborah had allegedly contacted the seller in June to offer three of the controllers for sale.

The development prompted Tolanibaj to involve the police and engage a lawyer. She said two people who allegedly bought the controllers from Deborah were arrested, while one of the controllers was recovered.

According to Tolanibaj, Deborah is currently wanted by the police.

Reflecting on the incident, she questioned whether her trust in her employee had contributed to the situation.

“This is actually a very, very weird place to be, weird position to be because you then begin to question, was I too nice, what could I have done differently?” she said.

Tolanibaj also admitted that the incident exposed weaknesses in the academy’s internal controls, particularly the ease with which valuable equipment could be removed.

“Moving forward, it is important for business owners to ensure that they have solid structure,” she said.

In a caption accompanying the video, Tolanibaj said she initially intended to handle the matter privately but decided to speak publicly out of concern that Deborah could allegedly repeat the act against another business owner.

She said the matter had been reported to the police and urged anyone with credible information about Deborah’s whereabouts to contact her via WhatsApp or direct message.

“Business owners, please do your background checks and verify everything no matter how much you trust someone,” she wrote.

Tolanibaj also appealed to the public to share the video, saying it could help prevent another business owner from experiencing a similar situation.