Every day, staff are hired across homes, domestic settings, enterprises and corporate organisations. For Nelson Olanipekun, founder of Podus+ Limited, an organisation focused on expanding access to protection services, legal aid and justice solutions and creator of Yourchecka, this routine activity carries serious, often overlooked risks.
Yourchecka is a physical, human-led background verification platform built for Nigerian businesses, human resources teams and high-net-worth households making sensitive hires — including executive assistants, nannies, c-level executives and more.
Why insider threats are harder to catch than outsider ones
Olanipekun’s concern with insider threats did not begin with a single incident. Over time, he realised that executive assistants and domestic staff routinely gain access to highly sensitive information: travel itineraries, financial dealings, household routines.
“The people closest to you pose the greatest challenge because they have the most information,” he said.
For households relying on nannies and domestic staff to free up time for work, the same risk applies at home, at a moment when cases of child abuse, kidnapping plots, and other sinister schemes involving domestic staff continue to be reported.
“That is the motivation,” Olanipekun said. “Helping people who have these concerns and fears address the threat of insider harm.”
Why Yourchecka chose physical verification over automation
Olanipekun argues that automated background checks can create a false sense of security rather than addressing the real risks.
“The way Nigeria is currently set up, we don’t have enough data to gather sufficient information about people and run truly robust background checks,” he said.
A utility bill can confirm an address on paper. However, it cannot confirm that a landlord or neighbour actually knows the person or vouches for their character.
According to Olanipekun, Yourchecka’s answer is to combine what can be verified digitally with human field intelligence, gathered by professionals with over 20 years of experience in intelligence gathering.
Field agents visit the addresses, guarantors and communities tied to a candidate’s history, speaking in person with landlords and neighbours.
Olanipekun further emphasises that candidates who know they are traceable are less likely to risk misconduct. “Why would the person attack Yourchecka?” he said. “They know that if they attack Yourchecka, it is difficult for them to get away with it.”
How the process works
The full verification process, which runs across ten thorough stages from employer account creation to final report, is available at yourchecka.com. Academic and health verifications are also available as optional add-ons for employers who require them.
Consent, pricing and data
Every check on Yourchecka requires the candidate’s consent, though candidates are not told the full extent of the process, including which specific addresses or contacts will be visited.
Consent covers criminal record checks, medical tests where applicable and biometric data collection.
The platform offers three pricing tiers: Basic, Standard and Professional.
The Standard tier includes a social media check alongside the core verification process, plus a detailed intelligence report and risk score, assessing the candidate’s character and competence.
Once a check is complete, the report is shared with the employer who requested it, and they are, in turn, at liberty to share relevant findings with the candidate. Yourchecka retains the data securely, and candidates can request its removal.
What is next for Podus+
Yourchecka is a product under Podus Plus Limited, which Nelson says is building toward a wider set of products addressing gaps in protection, legal aid and justice in Nigeria.
The most compelling detail about Yourchecka is that every background check run on the platform supports a greater cause, as 40% of all profits go directly to social justice initiatives, which means that for every hire an organisation verifies, it helps fund legal aid for at least one indigent Nigerian facing injustice and contributes to systemic justice reform efforts nationwide.
“Every check does two things at once,” Nelson says. “It de-risks lives and businesses, and it funds justice for someone who could not otherwise afford it.”
To get started with Yourchecka, visit www.yourchecka.com.
