A Lagos groundnut seller who received ₦1 million from content creator Peller now says she cannot sleep in her own home.
She and her family spent the night of Monday, September 1, 2026, at their church after a group of men repeatedly came to her apartment demanding money.
Peller, whose real name is Habeeb Hamzat, gave the woman and her daughter the sum during an Instagram livestream on Sunday, August 31, 2026. He asked how much capital they used to start their groundnut business. The woman said ₦3,000. When he asked what she would sell her entire stock for, she named ₦1 million. Peller sent the money immediately and told her to check her account.
The video spread quickly online, though not for the reason Peller expected. His attention shifted to the daughter’s quiet reaction to the gift. Her calm response irritated him, and he threatened to ask for the money back unless she showed more visible gratitude. She apologized on camera soon after.
The mother and daughter later posted a separate video explaining their muted response. They said the exchange happened late at night in a story building, and any loud celebration would have drawn immediate attention from neighbors. The mother asked Nigerians not to judge them harshly and, in return, prayed for Peller, asking that his finances multiply and his marriage be blessed with children.
That explanation did not end the matter. Word of the gift reached people outside the family’s control, and the fallout arrived at their doorstep.
In a video posted this week, the groundnut seller said she left home for the day and returned to warnings from her neighbors. A group of young men, commonly called area boys in Nigeria, had come looking for her several times that day, specifically asking about the money Peller had given her. She described their behavior as erratic and said staying at home no longer felt safe.
“We cannot even sleep at home now,” she said. “My family and I are going to sleep at our church.”
Footage from the video shows her mother and sister walking ahead of her as the family left their apartment to find shelter for the night.
Online reactions have split between sympathy for the family and ongoing debate over the earlier gratitude controversy. Some users argued Peller’s initial frustration with the daughter was unwarranted, calling it proof his gestures serve his content as much as his generosity. Others defended his reaction, saying a gift of that size deserved a visible response.
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Peller has built a public profile around large, spontaneous cash gifts. He previously gave a homeless woman in Lagos ₦500,000 along with groceries, sent ₦2 million to a childhood friend, and has said he plans to start a charity foundation to give out ₦40 million monthly after his wedding. He also recently appealed on behalf of a friend named Jarvis, asking Nigerians to help fund an operation to treat a mouth tumor that would cost over ₦30 million.
As of this report, neither Peller nor local authorities have publicly addressed the safety threat facing the groundnut seller and her family.
