Nnamdi Ibezim, the publisher of a controversial blog ‘Reportera’ in legal trouble for spreading false reports claiming that ex-Minister Tunde Fashola was drafting a judgement favourable to the APC for the presidential tribunal, has been advised by Nigerians to end his brother’s purported incarceration by the DSS over the saga by presenting himself for arrest.
He received the counsel after raising alarm that his brother was allegedly arrested by the security outfit in search of him because of the report. Nigeria’s security agencies waded into the matter after Fashola wrote a formal petition to investigative bodies in the country as part of efforts to institute legal proceedings on defamation.
The claim that Fashola was writing the judgement and had the army restrict access to his Abuja apartment was exposed as false given that the former Minister was seen at a party in Lagos as a wedding guest. He could not be held hostage in his Abuja residence to write the said judgement as claimed by the report while at the same time celebrating with friends in faraway Lagos State.
Fashola’s petition led many of the individuals that spread the fake news to delete their accounts out of fear that they could be brought in to substantiate the allegations. Nevertheless, Ibezim’s ‘Reportera’ was noted as one of the more prominent Twitter accounts whose publication of the false report racked up thousands of reposts and impressions.
In a statement published on the blog’s Twitter page, Ibezim said his brother was arrested in his place by the DSS and he condemned the development as an infringement of his rights. However, Nigerians on Twitter told him that the confusion could be easily resolved and all he had to do was present himself to the security agency for arrest, after which his purported innocent brother would be released.