Nigerian ‘archduchess’, Helen Idisi arrested by Spanish police for posing as UN Women head

Nigerian-born Spanish national, Helen Idisi has been arrested by the Spanish Police on charges of impersonation and fraud after taking up an extensive resume which includes head of the Spanish branch of UN Women, politician, detective, author, legal expert, and finance consultant. 

Idisi who was detained in Denia on Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast, reportedly posed as the president of the Spanish branch of UN Women, requesting funds and giving interviews to the media. 

The Nigerian-born Spanish National was arrested after the Spanish police began an investigation in mid-2018 following a complaint from the New York-based UN Women.

In a statement released by the police, Idisi was accused of allegedly providing online legal courses and soliciting for “funds to carry out different projects related to the institution she claimed to represent.” 

Deutsche Welle reported that Idisi described herself an “archduchess”, “Nigerian aristocrat”, a “Spanish politician, detective, author, legal expert, business and finance consultant” on her personal website. 

The Nigerian-born Spanish national who received the fewest votes to be Spain’s head of government in the last election with just 31 votes, also claimed to have participated in three Spanish elections as well as the founder of a political party, “Union de Todos” (Union for All). 

She also took up titles such as President of the African Europe Chamber of Commerce (a non-existent organization) and “advisor on diaspora and auxiliary affairs” of the Delta State of Nigeria, where she was born.