6 Nigerians on the Workplace Enemies Who Tried to Set Them Up

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You’ve heard that your colleagues aren’t your friends, but surely, they shouldn’t be your enemies either. Nope. Some people seem to have “ruin your life” in their job description.

A recent post on X brought this fear to life. A man alleged that a security guard planted someone else’s phone and power bank in his bag after a disagreement. According to him, CCTV footage cleared his name before he could be labelled a thief or arrested.

Just like this individual, we asked these Nigerians about workplace enemies who tried to get them in trouble and how they handled it. Here’s what they said.

“He gave me the wrong figures and watched me present them” — Temidayo*, 28, M

Once, after completing a project, my colleague sent me the figures for a client report while I worked on the presentation. Before our meeting, I noticed the numbers looked off, so I asked him to confirm them. He assured me they were correct.

During the presentation, he interrupted to announce that my figures were wrong. Then he brought out the correct spreadsheet and took over the rest of the presentation. I felt so confused and betrayed because we’d reviewed everything together that morning.

Afterwards, my line manager sent me a query asking why I had made such a big mistake. I immediately forwarded our email exchange, including the message where my colleague sent me the wrong figures. When I confronted him privately, he simply said I should have been more careful.

I’ve learned my lesson since then; my coworkers and my friends are two different groups of people.

“She told me to go home, then reported me for leaving” — Deborah*, 24, F

At my first corporate job, I worked at the front desk. One day, I came down with malaria, and after lunch, the admin officer told me to go home and book a sick day.

The next morning, our manager asked why I’d abandoned my post. When I explained what happened, the admin manager denied telling me to leave. This babe said she’d only said I could leave if the manager approved it. That wasn’t part of our conversation at all.

Unfortunately, I was still a JJC, so I didn’t have any proof. I got into a lot of trouble. I learned my lesson after that. These days, even if she asks me to bring her a glass of water, I’ll put it in writing.

“My coworker took money from customers in my name” — Samuel*, 38, M

When I was in my 20s, I was the oldest apprentice at a small printing shop. I ran the day-to-day operations with the owner’s nephew, Gbenga*.

We’d worked together for about six months, and I thought we’d become friends. I trusted him. He was in charge of logging new printing jobs and collecting payment, while I handled execution. At the end of each day, I counted what we made and gave it to him to take home to his uncle.

Then, the owner called me one day, angry. Several customers complained that their jobs were of poor quality or were delayed after I collected their payments. I was confused because, as far as I knew, we were on schedule.

The owner assumed I was mismanaging the business, so he insisted we review the records together. That’s when we discovered what Gbenga had been doing. He’d been taking jobs from customers in my name, collecting their money and outsourcing the work to another printing shop for less. The work was cheaper, and the quality was terrible.

The annoying part was remembering how this man always sat beside me, as if he wasn’t trying to put me in trouble. The owner sent him packing after that. I just thank God my reputation survived.

“My work bestie helped me look for the money she put in my bag” — Chizaram, 26, F

In 2023, during my stint as a salesgirl, my work bestie and I were at the shop one day when our boss claimed ₦100k had gone missing.

We were panicked because our boss threatened to involve the police if the money didn’t come out that day. My bestie helped me search everywhere, recounted all the cash in the store and even suggested places to check.

Then, she suggested that nobody should leave until everyone’s bag had been searched. When they opened mine and found the money inside, I almost fainted. This babe stood beside me, saying, “Babe, just explain. Nobody will judge you.” But I kept insisting I hadn’t stolen anything.

Later, our boss checked the CCTV footage and caught my “bestie”. She had opened my locker while I was out buying lunch and put the money in my bag. I felt so angry. We’d never had issues working together, so I still don’t understand why she decided to set me up. Our boss fired her on the spot, and I didn’t feel bad saying good riddance.

“He lied to higher-ups about my performance” — Emmanuella*, 30, F

I moved from a relaxed work environment into a corporate role last year and saw shege.

I worked directly under the head of the admin department, and from the beginning, it was obvious he didn’t like me. He nitpicked my work and always had a correction. At first, I assumed he was particular about his work, so I tried to adjust. But nothing pleased him. I became so anxious about Mondays because I knew I’d have to see him at work.

During my first performance review, which a director also attended, he gave me a scathing assessment and a low score. He claimed I regularly missed deadlines, needed constant supervision and hadn’t shown any improvement. When he suggested putting me on a performance improvement plan, I was struggling not to cry.

Thankfully, the director asked more follow-up questions, dropped the performance improvement plan and decided I needed more time to adjust to the role.

A few months later, he was sacked for getting drunk at work and behaving disorderly. His replacement was so pleasant and easy to work with.

“She tried to get me fired for TikTok videos” — Chioma*, 27, F

I started making videos for my social media pages in 2024. Nothing serious, really. I just like sharing bits of my day with my friends and community. Since the beginning of 2026, I’ve also been posting videos showing what I wear to the office.

In May, HR invited me to explain some conduct that was putting the business in a bad light. During the meeting, I was told that a concerned colleague had brought my videos to their attention as evidence of misconduct, which was a sackable offence. The colleague also claimed that I was filming during work hours, which wasn’t true. The panel took no disciplinary action but asked me to stop filming content within the office reception area. I eventually found out who had reported me. Turned out it was one of my “friends” at work, who regularly left nice comments and fire emojis under my videos.

I didn’t bother confronting her. I blocked her on social media and kept to myself at work. I hate it when I can’t take people at face value. I can’t be friends with someone who secretly hates me.