Onijah t-shirts flood Etsy as Americans follow saga of American lady

T-shirts featuring Onijah Robinson, the America lady who came to Pakistan to marry her online paramour, have flooded the online retailing site Etsy as western audiences breathlessly follow her saga of rejected love. 

Onijah, 33, who arrived in Pakistan in October to marry her 19-year-old online boyfriend Nidal Ahmed, finally left for the US in the early hours of Saturday morning, ending a four-month-long journey that included a frenzied media blitz and social media storm. 

Quotes from the multiple press conferences she addressed quickly went viral on TikTok, with many users vowing to make her quotes their catchphrases. 

A couple of t-shirts with her sayings have also popped up on retail giant Amazon.

Onijah in Pakistan

Onijah Andrew Robinson, the American woman who had been in Karachi ever since her Pakistani lover abandoned her after making false promises of marriage last year, now returned to the US on February 7, 2025.

She reportedly landed in Karachi on October 11, 2024, while her visa was set to expire on November 10, but despite her online paramour's refusal to marry her, she chose to stay.

In February, she was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi, with concerns for her mental health.

According to media sources, incoherence in speech and swelling in her hands and feet caused concerns. Admitted to the  Department of Psychiatry, reports of her detailed examination are due.

Jeremiah Andrew Robinson, Onijah’s son, revealed in a video statement earlier this week that his mother is mentally unwell and experiences cognitive hindrances. He stated that her claims and actions must be perceived and dealt with accordingly.

He also claimed that Onijah was supposed to return to the US two weeks after she arrived in Pakistan in October, and that he and his brother had bought a return ticket.

The 33-year-old US national’s criminal record shows that she was arrested in Charleston County in South Carolina in 2021, “ENTERING PREMISES AFTER WARNING”. It also revealed that a bail bond of $465 is possibly not paid.

On February 7 a medical board gave the green signal for her to travel, deeming her fit to go, after which the police escorted her to the airport. US Consulate staff also paid her a visit in the hospital, persuading her to go back to the US, and organised her flight.

While Onijah Robinson was in Pakistan, people around the world, especially in America, followed her story with zesty as her odyssey turned into a media storm. Foreign netizens shared how their perspective of Pakistanis changed upon witnessing the hospitality given to Onija and the patience people here showed towards her. Comparisons were drawn with the depiction of Pakistanis in Western media, which is often bleak and fearful.