FACT-CHECK: Did Abia govt ban EFCC, order release of arrested youths as Facebook pages claim?

Claim: The Abia State Government banned EFCC from operating in the state, ordered the release of arrested youths.

Verdict: False.

Full Text: A Facebook TV has started circulating an article claiming that the Abia State government prevented officials of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) from making arrests in the state.

According to the post, the state government led by Governor Alex Otti blocked the convoy of the Commission, preventing it from transferring arrested youths from the state to Abuja, the EFCC’s headquarters.

The EFCC was established to combat economic and financial crimes; to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes.

According to a statement attributed to Otti in the post, he said: “Aba boys are not thieves or killer herdsmen. No such arrests of my people will happen under my watch. Head back to Sokoto and arrest the Fulani herdsmen, not innocent Aba youths.”

The same narrative was posted on a Facebook page, Igbo Times Magazine News, on May 10 to its 162k followers. The page claims the governor banned EFCC from operating in the state.

Verification

Ripples Nigeria conducted keyword search to check whether mainstream media also published the same story. But it was discovered that no mainstream media published the story.

Such a story couldn’t have missed the mainstream media.

Ripples Nigeria further check the website and social media handles of the EFCC for information. However, there is no information related to the story making the rounds.

Likewise, checks on the social media handles of the state government reveal no result related to the story in circulation.

The handler of the Facebook TV is also yet to provide the source of the information.

The link attached to the story by the Igbo Times Magazine was redirecting to a betting site.

Findings also show that the picture attached to the post has been featured in old news stories online, and is unrelated to Abia State.

Conclusion

No credible media outlet, nor handles of the Abia State government reported the story being peddled by Facebook pages that the Abia State government banned and prevented the EFCC from making arrests in the state.

The handlers of the Facebook pages could not provide further information on the story.

The post FACT-CHECK: Did Abia govt ban EFCC, order release of arrested youths as Facebook pages claim? appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from Ripples Nigeria.