Hafsat Abubakar, an X user, was detained by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) for posting a message encouraging users to take money out of OPay, a digital financial services platform.
The X user was taken into custody on September 4, according to a statement released by NPF spokesperson Ani Iniedu on Thursday.
The fraudulent article, which went viral on social media, stated that OPay would cease operations on September 1 and halt all transaction processing indefinitely. Customers were advised to withdraw their money right away to minimise any possible trouble.
OPay rejected the allegation as untrue and vowed to sue the source of the publication.
Iniedu said operatives launched a digital forensic investigation and online tracing operation to identify the source of the hoax.
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The force spokesperson said the investigation traced the post, published through the X handle @haifah_er_abba, to Hafsat.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect published the notice on her X handle and subsequently shared it through another X handle, @CUTE_HAFSERH, where she tagged social media influencers and accompanied the post with the caption, “REMOVE YOUR MONEY NOW,” the statement reads.
“She stated that she obtained the notice from a WhatsApp status. The publication reportedly recorded approximately 572,000 views within minutes of being posted.
“Three Apple mobile phones were recovered from the suspect as exhibits. Investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the creation and dissemination of the false notice and to identify any other persons who may have been involved.”
Iniedu said the suspect, along with any other persons found culpable, would be charged to court after the conclusion of the investigation.
In August, OPay, refuted the allegation in an official statement posted on all of its verified social media channels and reassured clients that the business is still fully operating.
In a statement titled ‘This is FALSE,’ the fintech said: “OPay is not going on break by September. We’re here, and we’re going nowhere!”
The company further urged its customers and members of the public to scrutinise the viral publication for inconsistencies and rely only on its verified communication channels for authentic information.
