Niko Omilana

Nikolas Daniel Adegbajumo Omilana ( ; born 4 March 1998) is a British YouTuber, prankster and perennial political candidate. He is known for posting prank, comedy, vlogging and challenge videos on YouTube and for running as an independent candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election and the 2024 UK general election, being unsuccessful in both elections. He is also known for being a part of the Beta Squad YouTube group. Omilana has also competed in several charity football matches, including Soccer Aid and multiple Sidemen charity matches.

Early life and personal life Nikolas Daniel Adegbajumo Omilana was born on 4 March 1998 in London to an English mother and a Yoruba Nigerian father.

YouTube career

2011–2017: Early career Omilana created his YouTube account, "Niko Omilana", in June 2011. He uploaded his first video in 2014 and started uploading comedy skits, parody, and challenge videos. In an interview in October 2019, he cited British YouTuber KSI as his inspiration to start making content on YouTube.

2018–2020: Initial popularity and Beta Squad In May 2018, Omilana went viral after he uploaded a video titled "UNDERCOVER As A RACIST For 24 HOURS" in which he went undercover as a racist to troll and mock supporters of a far-right organisation, the English Defence League (EDL), during their protest in Telford, Shropshire. Later in December 2018, Omilana uploaded another prank video, continuing his previous EDL prank video, in which he trolled one of the co-founders of the EDL and far-right activist, Tommy Robinson, to promote Omilana's brand and merch, the NDL (Niko Defence League).

On 28 August 2019, he reached one million subscribers on YouTube. In November 2019, Omilana went viral after he attempted to sneak into the KSI vs. Logan Paul II boxing re-match and enter the ring. In 2020, Omilana was nominated for a Shorty Award for Breakout YouTuber at the 12th Shorty Awards, losing to Alexandra Mary Hirschi.

2021–present: Collaboration and continued growth Omilana was the subject of controversy in 2022 due to a 2021 video showing conditions within a poultry farm. Animal rights activists investigated the same location two months later and found living conditions for chickens to be considerably worse than those depicted in Omilana's video. Omilana's agency said, “Whilst we take these allegations very seriously and will speak with KFC about these claims, the filming that our client took part in accurately reported the conditions he saw and experienced on the day.”

In May 2022, Omilana went viral after he uploaded a video titled "I Pranked America's Most Racist Man", in which he disguised himself as a journalist for the BBC and travelled to Harrison, Arkansas, to prank Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, Thomas Robb into saying "BLM" (short for the anti-racist slogan "Black Lives Matter") on camera during a fake interview.

In March 2023, Omilana collaborated with American YouTuber and prankster JiDion and created a prank series on YouTube called "The Biggest Menace", where they competed with each other to pull off as many pranks as they could in a bid to earn the title of "the biggest menace", with each episode uploaded on both Omilana's and JiDion's personal channels. They later attracted media attention after they uploaded an episode of the series called "We Pranked The Mona Lisa", in which Omilana challenged JiDion to sneak in a painting of himself right next to the Mona Lisa painting, which later caused JiDion to get arrested by the French police.

In April 2023, Omilana was arrested and kicked by a police officer during an attempted visit to the disputed micronation of Liberland. The incident received coverage in Croatian and Serbian media.

On 13 July 2024, Omilana appeared and participated in a MrBeast video titled "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000".

In May 2025, Omilana was announced as one of the contestants on the 2025 celebrity series of The Traitors. He also announced his new sweet brand, Shades by Niko, on 10 May, which were released nationally in the UK on 21 May. They consist of three flavours, The Originals, Tropical Blast, and Straight Up Strawberry.

Electoral candidacies In the 2021 London mayoral election, Omilana ran as an independent candidate. Omilana received 49,628 votes in the election, securing 2% of the total votes cast, making him the highest-placed independent candidate, beating out other popular independents Piers Corbyn, Laurence Fox, and Count Binface. Among his campaign pledges, Omilana suggested turning McDonald's restaurants into social housing and removing the teeth of racists. Omilana also attempted to run at the 2024 London mayoral election, but his nomination form was declared invalid. prompting a police investigation as it is an offence to provide false information on nomination papers. Standing as a candidate in more than one constituency is also an offence. Each person standing as "Niko Omilana" were resident at a different address and had nomination papers that were signed by different members of the public. After Sunak was confirmed as the winner of his constituency's election, he conceded the general election, in which Labour were on the verge of officially winning. During his concession speech, Omilana attracted media attention when he pranked Sunak by holding up a piece of paper with the letter "L" behind him, which referred to Sunak as a "Loser".

Charity football matches Omilana has participated in multiple charity football matches, starting with the 2022 Sidemen charity match, where Omilana scored twice at the 9th and 74th minute for team YouTube Allstars. Next year, Omilana also played in the 2023 Sidemen charity match, scoring at the 86th minute for team YouTube Allstars. On 8 March 2025, he played in the 2025 Sidemen charity match, held at the Wembley Stadium, as a player for team YouTube Allstars. He managed to score a goal during a penalty shoot-out.

On 11 June 2023, Omilana participated in Soccer Aid 2023, a football charity match held at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, where he played for team World XI.

Television In May 2025, Omilana was announced to be a contestant on the first series of The Celebrity Traitors. He was selected as a Faithful but was the first player to be banished in episode 2. Omilana, when asked on leaving said, "It feels sad because I wanted to go far, but someone has to go early.".

Filmography Television

Awards and nominations

Rated Awards 2021 Personality of the Year Himself

Shorty Awards 2020 Breakout YouTuber Himself