The Dubai Model Case: Inside the Disappearance of Aminat Musa – A Nigerian TikTok Star Who Went to Dubai for a Shoot, But Later Found Dead in a Canal.
It was meant to be a career break. In early March 2023, 19-year-old Aminat Musa, a fast-rising TikTok star from Lagos with over 300,000 followers, boarded a flight to Dubai. She had been invited to film a music video—a chance to move from local brand deals to an international stage. Less than two weeks later, her body was pulled from a technical water channel in the Al Jaddaf area.
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Her death, and the events surrounding it, has raised questions about the safety of young women recruited for modeling jobs in the Gulf region.
On the morning of March 9, 2023, workers from the Dubai Municipal Health Department were checking for blockages in a water channel in Al Jaddaf. The area was partially silted, with water levels at about 80 centimeters. Near a filter grate, they spotted a dense bundle wedged between concrete slabs.
It was a body wrapped in a white hotel sheet, wound tightly in layers and tied with nylon rope. An initial report suggested the body had been in the water for nearly a week.
Dubai police arrived quickly. The area was closed off, drones recorded the scene, and by late morning, forensic teams were at work. Lieutenant Faris Al Mutar, speaking to Emarat News, said the body could not yet be identified and that authorities were looking at all possibilities, including accident or suicide.
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But within hours, information began circulating through unofficial channels. A contact at the Nigerian consulate in the UAE sent a message to a closed group: a Nigerian woman had been found. An officer on the scene compared the woman’s appearance with photos from a missing person file that had been submitted days earlier.
The next day, it was official. The body belonged to Aminat Musa.
Aminat had arrived in Dubai on March 1. She was booked into the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa as part of a group of three. According to her contract—an unsigned PDF document sent via email—the trip was arranged by a Bahraini producer named Akhmat Badr, who claimed to run an agency called Orion Vision. The company, it later turned out, was not registered.
On March 2, Aminat spoke to her mother by phone. She said she was feeling fine and would be home in a week. That was the last time her family heard her voice.
Hotel records and security footage reviewed by investigators show that on the night of March 2, around 11:00 p.m., Aminat left the hotel with a man wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. He was not a registered guest. She returned alone about 90 minutes later. Then she left again. This time, she left her bag and phone behind.
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No one saw her alive after that.
Four days later, the two men who had traveled with Aminat—both Saudi Arabian citizens—left the UAE. A man later identified as Samir Hariri, a Lebanese citizen connected to the Orion Vision project, departed on a private charter flight from Al Maktoum Airport on March 4. He flew to Egypt, then disappeared.
When the police first confirmed Aminat’s identity, their public statement offered a limited version of events. Officials said the girl had left the hotel in a state of alcohol intoxication and that there were no signs of violent death. An investigation, they said, was underway.
But internal documents and later reports painted a different picture. According to a consular representative who spoke privately with a forensic doctor, the autopsy revealed more. The body showed signs of genital mutilation. There were injection marks on her left forearm and internal lacerations. Traces of an anesthetic—one not available in regular pharmacies—were found in her stomach. Laboratory tests later detected ketamine and diazepam in her blood.
There were no signs of a struggle. Investigators believe she was likely unconscious before the assault.
Fibers matching hotel textiles were found on her body. A maid who cleaned the room after Aminat checked out later told investigators that a sheet with stains had been removed, but it disappeared from the laundry before it could be secured. The room itself showed traces of blood in the bathroom, though police initially said this could be related to her menstrual cycle.
Samir Hariri quickly became the focus of the investigation. His name was not on the hotel guest list, but security cameras captured him on two floors the night Aminat disappeared. A front desk worker recalled seeing Aminat arguing with an older man near the elevator that night. The man spoke Arabic with an accent and kept his face covered. The worker said the girl looked uneasy but did not call for help.
Hariri had crossed paths with law enforcement before. Interpol records showed his name linked to the disappearances of two Ethiopian women in 2021. Both had been invited to Bahrain for modeling work. One is still missing. The other was found dead in the desert near Al Muharraq. The injuries were reportedly similar to Aminat’s.
After leaving Dubai, Hariri traveled to Egypt, then left again on a private boat. His phone was disconnected, his accounts closed. He has not been seen since. Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest in mid-March 2023, but his location remains unknown.
Aminat’s case is not the only one. The Initiative for the Protection of Migrant Women, a Lagos-based human rights group, has documented several similar reports over the past two years. Young women from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Ghana received emails offering modeling work in Dubai or Bahrain. The agencies—with names like Orion Vision, Lux Art Models, and Icon Productions—were not registered. Contact was made only through WhatsApp or Gmail.
A former model from Tanzania, who contacted investigators anonymously, said she received a similar offer but turned it down after the person insisted on a late-night shoot in a penthouse without a chaperone. She shared screenshots of the correspondence.
Where Things Stand
More than a year later, no one has been charged in Aminat Musa’s death. The case remains open, but the main suspect is still at large. The Nigerian government sent a formal note to the UAE embassy calling for a thorough investigation. Officials have not received a response.
For Aminat’s family and friends, the wait continues. Her last TikTok post, uploaded six days before her body was found, shows a nighttime view of Dubai from a high floor. She was wearing the same clothes she had on when she was discovered in the canal.
Her mother, who reported her missing after five days of silence, still does not have all the answers.
The Dubai Model Case: Inside the Disappearance of Aminat Musa – A Nigerian TikTok Star Who Went to Dubai for a Shoot, But Later Found Dead in a Canal.
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