The Whole Juice On Mercy Aigbe’s Red Birthday Dress Saga
Nollywood celebrity Mercy Aigbe has been in the news lately for a lot of reasons. The world came together to celebrate the icon as she clocked the big 40 on the 1st of January but unknown to many, there was going to be a fiasco about one of the dresses she wore for her birthday photo shoot.
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Some days prior to her birthday, Mercy had posted series of lovely pictures among which was a dazzling red dress, sheer and beautiful in all its simplicity.
As expected, a lot of people were awed by how gorgeous she looked in the dress, but that was before a young lady by the name Lawrenta Sawyer came on Instagram to call out the actress and the designer for defrauding her.
We have pictures of the dress below
According to the lady who claimed to be the real owner of the red dress, she had given her material to the tailor, Maryam Elisha, aka rikaotobyme to make a reception dress for her wedding but the tailor had informed her that there was a mix up in delivery and the bride to be would have to wear another dress.
The lady said she had no choice but to wear the other dress provided by the tailor for her wedding but to her shock, she had come come online and seen her dress (the same material and style) on Instagram after Mercy Aigbe had posted pictures of herself in it.
We have her Instagram post below
This was too bad. On the 29th of December 2017 which happens to be a day to my wedding, a greedy designer decided to ruin my big day. I cried all day no stop. I bought this lovely fabric from @bshani_bridalfbrics and asked her to deliver to this designer @rikaotobyme after I had concluded the style and price with @rikaotobyme I made a 50% payment to her as soon the fabric got to her. Told her its my wedding reception dress she assured me it will be ready on 26th. on that 26th i chatted her up to ask for my dress she replied saying it was ready as u can see on the chat above, she also said she will send a pics, eventually now sent a video d next day which was 27th u can also see that on the chat above. I sent the balance 50% to her on 28th when I had seen the dress and was satisfied, she couldn’t send that day cos all flights coming to Benin that day were cancelled. So we were now left with 29th a day to my wedding, I called her by 6am that morning and she told me d delivery Guy has gone to d park to send my dress that she will send the waybill details(sending details ) across shortly. I waited till 9am no words from her. i started calling to ask for the waybill details she wasn’t taking my calls, atimes she even cut the calls. I sent several messages no response at 1pm I started crying cos the situation got beyond my control. My hubby,friends and family requested for the number and also started calling her but she obviously decided not to take any calls again. Until 4pm when I was drained in tears she then called and was apologising that she didn’t know what to say to me that y she refuse taking calls, she continued saying the delivery guy she gave my dress to is no where to be found. when she heard how I was crying she then suggested to give me one of her old dresses for me to use for the day, I had no choice cos I was desperate I then accepted it.i got d dress on my wedding morning. I went on IG yesterdy only to see @realmercyaigbe wearing my dress with the same fabric I bought and she tagged same designer @rikaotobyme.how much did she pay u to disappoint a bride on her wedding day? U are heartlessly wicked and u will sure not get away with this @rikaotobyme
A post shared by MRS LAWRENTTA SAWYER (@rettypety) on Jan 1, 2018 at 12:48am PST
Although the tailor was initially quiet and refused to say anything about the issue, she later publicly addressed the situation and offered her side of the story, alongside an apology to both the bride and Mercy.
We have that below
Our attention has been drawn to the ongoing chaos surrounding a dress and one of our esteemed clients on Instagram and possibly on other blogs and social media sites. . . . We would have preferred if this matter was addressed directly to us for a quick resolution and to avoid the media frenzy, but unfortunately it wasn’t. . . . We hold our clients dearly and offer our services on first come first served bases with no iota of discrimination or insinuation of such. . . . We admit that a dispatch error occurred in the delivery of a dress to Miss Lawrentta, who was set to get married on the 30th December, 2017 and the pick up of another dress on behalf of actress, Mercy Aigbe. . . . Please note that both dresses were of the same style, the same colour (red) and almost the same measurement. . . . On realising the error on dispatch, we quickly tried to rectify the mix up. But it was too late as the wrong dress was already on its way to Edo state for the bride to be. . . . We contacted the bride and explained we had an issue and asked if she would be comfortable with another dress, of same kind (which was the one meant for Mercy Aigbe), the bride agreed, so we allowed the dress to be delivered as time to recall dispatch was short in relation to the time of the wedding. . . . We have already apologised to Miss Lawrentta, but once again use the public fora to tender an unreserved apology to her and by extension to Mercy Aigbe who shouldnt have been dragged into this. . . . We assure all our clients, past and future that our resolve to deliver top notch designs to clients within the country and beyond will not be compromised and the error that led to this unhappy situation has since been corrected. Thank you
A post shared by Maryam Elisha (@rikaotobyme) on Jan 2, 2018 at 3:29am PST
This is her apology to Mercy Aigbe
The bride has however refused to accept the apology and has continued in her claim that the tailor intentionally hurt her and deprived her of her joy.
We have the reply she gave to the tailor’s apology below.
Reading your reply @rikaotobyme to the pain and embarrassment you deliberately caused my me for financial profit on the eve of and on my wedding day, I am convinced that you are indeed wicked. A wickedness that has consequences. Firstly, in your response you claim there was a dispatch error. Was the error of dispatch the cause of the delivery agent’s number being “not reachable” as you claimed? Secondly, you also claimed the “dispatch error” was too late to be rectified as the wrong dress was already on the way to Edo state. At what point was the “dispatch error” discovered since your staff Kate, dropped off the dress at Ojota at around 9pm for nightbus delivery? Thirdly you claimed also that similarities in the dresses caused the “mixup”. If that was the case why did @realmercyaigbe on receipt of a dress that wasn’t hers still go ahead to wear it for her 40th birthday shoot and post on social media on the 31st of December ? Mind you, the dress you sent to me was torn and musty on delivery, not in any shape for a client how much more a celebrity. While that which conveniently landed with Mercy Aigbe, was a fabric i purchased myself from @bshani_bridalfabrics. Lastly in your response, you lied about apologizing to me. Since the 29th i have not heard a single word from you and there is not a chance in hell that what you called an apology on “public fora” or the chat above would suffice. In all of this, it’s blatantly obvious from your statement you have refused to accept responsibility like a true professional should and sincerely apologize for your moment of indiscretion and weakness. Until then I am personally committed you face the full consequences of your actions and the pains you meted on me.
A post shared by MRS LAWRENTTA SAWYER (@rettypety) on Jan 2, 2018 at 12:04pm PST
The bride also uploaded a video, sent by the designer to show that the dress was ready on December 27th, 2017.
