'Canadian Kardashians' Had Government Help Escaping Nigeria

The Instagram-famous Toronto sisters Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo accused of scamming a billionaire had help from Canada escaping Nigeria, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The department told CBC News that the sisters, who've been colloquially referred to as the "Canadian Kardashians," were in a situation of "extreme urgency," leading it to issue them emergency travel documents.

The sisters previously said that Nigerian officials held them in a cell in the largest city in Nigeria, Lagos, for eight hours in December 2016, then took them to a hotel and took away their passports. They were allegedly told that in order to get their passports back, they had to participate in an apology video. "Like idiots, we did the video," Jyoti said. The video can be seen below:

But, even after one of the sisters said on camera in the video that they were "not under duress" and claimed responsibility at the time for the celebrity gossip site NaijaGistLive.com and .co that was allegedly used to blackmail Nigerian Femi Otedola (whose net worth is reportedly $1.2 billion) and cyberbully hundreds of others, they did not get their passports back.

"We just helped them build their case against us, because all they wanted to do was humiliate us in the media by saying that we owned the website," Jyoti, 32, said.

Fearing their safety, the Matharoo sisters contacted the High Commission to get help leaving the country as their charges were pending. According to Kiran, 30, they called twice and "practically begged" for assistance escaping Nigeria. By January 1, 2017, the High Commission of Canada was able to help them leave the West African country and return to Canada.

Last month, the two sisters described to CTV Toronto being "framed" in Nigeria to cover up a "national embarrassment."

"I think the stain on our reputation will never be cleared," Jyoti said in April. "The way the media reported it, they called us sex workers… I've never done anything like that. I've never blackmailed anyone, never extorted anyone."

Though the sisters took a several-months-long hiatus from Instagram, both Jyoti and Kiran are back to posting on their respective accounts now.

The Matharoos have missed numerous court dates related to the case in Nigeria and have another coming up May 22. However, they have said publicly that they will not be returning to the country.

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