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Ataga kidnap: Police arrest 34-yr -old teacher for fake news

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The intelligence response team from the Force Headquarters has arrested a 34-year- old female teacher, Grace Ibrahim for spreading false information that a policeman was involved in the kidnap of a Kaduna doctor, Philip Ataga’s wife and two children.

The kidnappers killed the wife who was kidnapped alongside her two children while the children were released on February 6, 2020.

In a post that went viral on social media networks, Ibrahim had said one of the children had identified a neighbour, who is a policeman as the person that ordered the shooting of their mother.

Ibrahim, who was paraded at the Force Headquarters, apologized for the viral message, saying she did not verify it before spreading it.

Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who paraded the suspect said that “while we were working on that case, we woke up to a very damaging viral post that made allegations to the effect that a policeman was implicated in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the deceased.

‘’It was a very damaging insinuation and our operatives immediately set out to investigate the source and origin of that story. Today, after days of investigation, we traced that post that went viral to the young woman here, Grace Ibrahim, a teacher, who from nowhere originated that post.

“This is a classical example of fake news and the major problem with this kind of fake news is that not only is it false and irresponsible, but can actually set the people against the police.

‘’This kind of story has the capacity of damaging the very important relationship between the police and members of the public. The success of every police department is predicated on the kind of support they get from members of the public.

“Once trust and confidence from members of the public are eroded, no police agency can function effectively. So, when you spread this kind of false story, insinuating that police officers are now the ones carrying out kidnapping and killing innocent people, whose lives they have been charged, employed, trained, equipped and paid to preserve, then you are damaging a very vital ingredient of a stable society.

“Fake news of this nature is also very distractive. Resources that would have been otherwise used in investigating important cases are sometimes diverted to trying to investigate the source of these kinds of stories.

“We have also seen in the past where fake news has triggered communal clashes and reprisal attacks, and innocent persons are attacked and killed, and properties damaged.

“I use this opportunity to appeal to members of the public, particularly, our teeming youths to exercise a lot of caution in the use of the social media. You have to be circumspect before you push out that story. If you are not sure of the authenticity of that story or you cannot confirm if indeed it is true, please don’t push the button on your phone.

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‘’Don’t push out that story. It is also a criminal offence. Our cyber laws are very clear. We would go after you, arrest and prosecute you. It is not enough defence to say forwarded as received. Once you forward, you have put your signature on that story, at the point you are forwarding the story, you have become a co-author of that story.’’

Meanwhile, Grace Ibrahim, speaking to journalists said that she has regretted her action, adding that “I apologize to the police for putting out information that was false because I did not verify it.

“It was based on hearsay and I just put it out there. I did not think about the implication and I am very sorry because the information was false. I heard it from a colleague. I wish to apologize.

“I did not confirm and decided to post, which was bad of me. When I saw it was going viral, I decided to pull it down because that was when I realized what l did was wrong and I really want to apologize to the police.”

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Ihesiulo Grace

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