Three thousand years ago, great odysseys were being penned by the Greeks. Now, our epics are being catalogued by none other than TikTok. If you haven’t heard of Onija Robinson, then time to settle down, grab a cuppa and get ready to be brought on a journey of love, betrayal, resilience, Gen Z meme culture and – perhaps – hope. It all started last year, when 33-year-old New Yorker Onija met Pakistani Nidal Ahmed Memon, just 19, online. Nidal was working in a Karachi call centre when sparks began to fly. Their connection grew and Onija, who was posing as a white blonde woman, reportedly agreed to be wed in an online Nikah (a Muslim marriage ceremony).
Lovestruck, Onija then left her four kids in October 2024 to fly to Karachi to be with her alleged husband. However, when she pulled up at Nidal’s doorstep, the romance went awry. While Nidal was willing to overlook her drastic change in appearance, his parents heavily disapproved of the relationship. Onija, who had travelled over 7000 miles, across 10 time zones, was left stranded. Spurned by her digital lover, she took to camping outside his apartment complex. According to the Pakistani TikToker @mystapaki, the surrounding close-knit community quickly began to take notice, and the ensuing discord eventually attracted national media outlets.
With the onslaught of media attention, a well-known Pakistani humanitarian Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa stepped in to help. He held a press conference with Onija to try and convince her to leave – but Onija would not be swayed. During the conference, she demanded 100K from the Pakistani government so she could "reconstruct this whole country.". When Muhammad attempted to interject, she brazenly told him, “Listen, you talk too much." The outrageousness of the clip exploded on TikTok.
At this point Onija began to attract notable attention online. In another widely circulated interview, she announced her plans to move to Dubai and start a family with Nadel. After seeing this media storm, Onija’s son, Jeremiah Robinson, came online to reveal that she suffers from bipolar disorder and urged her to return to the US. Upon hearing this, Muhammad took Onija to a nearby psych ward. After going through several medical tests, as reported by The News International, Onija returned to her original camping spot outside the apartment complex.
After a failed attempt to bring her to the airport on January 29th, as reported by Daijiworld, Muhammad then tried to check Onija into a guesthouse. This didn’t go to plan – cue Onija yelling at hotel staff in another widely-viewed clip – and she eventually returned to the apartment complex. During the course of these events, she befriended a female Pakistani officer named Shabana, who fast became a beloved part of the TikTok tale. Back outside the apartment, clips showed her being greeted by the neighbourhood, who it appeared had developed a strong liking for Onija – despite her often abrasive attitude.
Though, sadly for many, on February 7th, she was finally put on a flight home. In a TikTok videos, she was seen travelling through Karachi airport, where she was then escorted by Federal Investigation officials, police and authorities to her flight back to New York. But, in a bizarre twist, videos have been circulating on TikTok of Onija strolling through the streets of Dubai, taking selfies with admirers and posing for videos. Whether this is simply part of a connecting flight or another step in the adventure has not been confirmed.
