Nigerian Influencer Tiny Ubiribo's Death Sparks Faking Suspicions After NDLEA Wanted List Link

Published 7 Sep 2026 at 11:15 AM

by Jessica Gcaba

3 min read

Journalist Yemi King raised questions about a six-month gap between Igho 'Tiny' Ubiribo's reported death in March 2026 and the public coroner's report in September
Tiny and his wife were declared wanted by the NDLEA in 2023 over an alleged international drug syndicate linked to a 32.7kg seizure in Lagos
Davido was spotted among mourners at Tiny's gold-coffin funeral in London, which added to the widespread attention the story received

PAY ATTENTION: Mark Briefly News as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!

A viral post by verified journalist Yemi King has thrown Nigerian socialite Igho "Tiny" Ubiribo's reported death into serious question, after King pointed out a suspicious six-month gap between when Tiny allegedly died and when the public was told about it. The post, shared on 6 September 2026, has since pulled in hundreds of thousands of views and reignited conversations about a 2023 drug case that the socialite had never answered for.

According to King, Tiny reportedly died in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2026 during a holiday with his wife. Yet the coroner's report, which attributed his death to a pulmonary embolism linked to a cosmetic filler procedure, only surfaced in September 2026. In the months between, a gold-coffin funeral was reportedly held in London, attended by Nigerian superstar Davido, among others.

Read also

‘Who is giving them that?’: Robert Marawa reacts to Mantashe’s grant question

NDLEA Wanted List Casts a Shadow

PAY ATTENTION: You can now search for all your favourite news and topics on Briefly News.

What makes the timeline harder to ignore is Tiny's history with Nigerian law enforcement. In April 2023, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency publicly declared Tiny and his wife, Danielle Simba Allen, wanted, naming them as the driving force behind an international drug syndicate based in Los Angeles. Authorities alleged the couple used a Port Harcourt prophetess to recruit teenage girls as couriers for "Loud" and other shipments. A 32.7kg consignment was intercepted in Lagos, properties were seized, an ₦80 million bank account was frozen, and court orders were issued. The pair never appeared to answer the charges.

King drew a direct line from that 2023 case to the current story. "Tiny's timeline of being declared wanted in 2023, dead in Thailand March 2026, lavish funeral May 2026, then full cause of death only public in September, fits the outline even if no one has proven a fake. The delay itself is a red flag," he wrote.

Read also

Diddy's prison stay slashed again after brawl, Peeps stunned: "This makes no sense"

Fake Death Certificates and Nigerian Precedent

To support his suspicions, King pointed to a broader pattern of alleged death-faking in Nigeria. In May 2026, the NDLEA re-arrested Ibrahim Yusuf Lawal after his wife filed an affidavit claiming he had died of tuberculosis and been buried according to Islamic rites. He was alive and had simply jumped bail. King also noted that Lagos hospitals have reportedly issued death certificates for living individuals for as little as ₦10,000, and that at least one EFCC suspect had previously used a forged death certificate to attempt to close an active case.

Social media users were quick to pile on. @madant3 wrote: "I also thought it was suspicious that Enews published it everywhere, he was not even a celebrity." @Blacked_Dog added: "Complex and every big news outlets posting this is fishy fr," to which King replied: "Almost like deliberately syndicated across multiple international news agencies to provide legitimacy."