Community Guidelines

Ojawa works because real people meet in person and trust the Deal Code to confirm a safe handover. That only holds up if everyone plays fair. These guidelines sit alongside our Terms of Service and apply to every listing, message, bid, and review on the platform.

• Use your real phone number and a display name you’re comfortable other traders seeing
• Keep one account — don’t create a second account to get around a suspension, inflate your own listing, or bid against yourself
• Don’t impersonate another person, business, or Ojawa staff

• Use your own photos of the actual item — not stock images or a photo of someone else’s stock
• Describe the real condition, including defects, and don’t hide damage out of frame
• Price it honestly — no bait-and-switch listings meant to lure buyers in and then upsell a different price in person
• List in the correct category so buyers searching for the right thing can actually find it

You may not list, advertise, or offer to sell:

• Stolen goods, or items you cannot prove you have the right to sell
• Counterfeit or replica goods sold as genuine
• Weapons, ammunition, or explosives
• Illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia
• Live animals sold or advertised in a way that risks their welfare, or any animal whose sale is restricted by Nigerian law
• Recalled products or items banned from sale by a regulator
• Currency, financial instruments, or anything that facilitates fraud (fake IDs, hacking tools, etc.)
• Adult content or services

This list isn’t exhaustive — if an item is illegal to sell in Nigeria, it’s not welcome on Ojawa.

Our full Safety Guide covers this in detail, but the essentials:

• Never share your Deal Code before you’ve met in person and inspected the item
• Meet at a public hub during daylight — a mall, a verified shop, a bank lobby with security
• Inspect first, exchange payment second
• Trust your instincts — if something feels wrong, you can walk away before entering any code

In chat, offers, and reviews, we don’t allow:

• Harassment, threats, or intimidation
• Hate speech or discrimination based on tribe, religion, gender, or any other protected characteristic
• Spam, repeated unsolicited offers, or advertising a different platform/service

• Don’t bid on your own listing, directly or through another account, to drive up the price
• Every bid is binding — only bid what you’re actually prepared to pay and collect
• Winning bidders are expected to complete the Deal Code handshake with the seller; repeatedly walking away from won auctions may cost you your bidding privileges

• Only review a deal you actually completed
• Describe your real experience — don’t trade reviews with another seller, or accept payment/discounts in exchange for a positive one

Every listing, message, and profile has a report option. Tell us what happened and we’ll route it to our moderation queue — reports are reviewed by a real person, not just an algorithm. If you’re in immediate danger during a meetup, contact Nigerian law enforcement first.

Depending on what happened, we may remove the content in question, issue a warning, temporarily restrict a feature (messaging, bidding, listing), or permanently disable the account. Prohibited items, fraud, and threats to someone’s safety can result in immediate removal without a warning.