Family of 18-year-old wey allegedly share fake news about Tony Elumelu and im wife beg for mercy

Di family of one of di young boys wey chop arrest sake of say dem post fake news about di chairman of UBA Group, Tony Elumelu, don dey beg make im release am.

Kingsley Akunemeihe bin share post for im X handle wey bin claim say Tony Elumelu don divorce in wife, Awele.

For video wey im sister post or her Instagram handle, she claim say na wen im bin dey come back from wia im go write Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME) na im dem arrest am.

She dey beg oga Tony Elumelu to "forgive" am sake of say "na small boy wey dey 18 years".

Ngozi Akunemeihe say even though her broda bin take di post down and also apologise, she dey also beg on im behalf make oga Elumelu free am.

According to her, e don pass one week now wey dem lock her broda up for di Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sake of dis fake tori e post for X wey she describe as "defamation of character".

"Mr Tony Elumelu use police to arrest my 18-year-old younger broda, Kingsley Chinanu Akunemeihe. Na on Saturday 18 April dem arrest am wen im bin dey come back from im Jamb exam, since dat time im neva come house ," Ngozi tok inside di video.

She also claim say no be her broda start di fake tori sake of say im copy am from anoda pesin page, na only share im share am.

" Afta im share am, pipo begin call am say e post fake tori and e dey defamatory. Im don dey detained for ova one week now," she add.

For statement wey di UBA Group Head of Brand, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Alero Ladipo sign, di bank dismiss di claims wey bin go viral on social media wey bin allege say dia chairman divorce im wife.

"Di attention of UBA Group don dey drawn to one false, defamatory, and malicious publication wey dey currently circulate on social media platforms, wey dey falsely allege say di Group Chairman, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, don divorce im wife.

"Dis statements and all similar content dey entirely fabricated, reckless, and witout basis. Di claims na deliberate falsehood designed to mislead di public and cause reputational harm," di statement tok.

UBA add say dem don carry di mata go meet law enforcement authorities. Dem also confam say police don arrest di pipo wey get hand inside di fake tori as dem dey kontinu to investigate.

Meanwhile Social activist, Omoyele Sowore, don chook mouth for di mata as im tok say Tony Elumelu no do well as e arrest di three pipo wey dey spread fake news about am say im marriage to im wife Awele don scata.

"No be criminal offence, If Elumelu marriage still dey intact make im just issue statement wey go tok say im and im wife still dey togeda, e dey as simple as dat, but dem always like to dey use dia position to oppress pipo and we hate am.

Intervention don already start, we don bring lawyers and also contact di police. And di police force need to dey sanitised to di point wey be say dem no go dey put dia hand for anyhow mata.

Sowore add say make di Nigeria police go dey arrest main criminals and make dem leave bloggers alone. Im add say Tony Elumelu na social media man wey dey always post about imsef, so matas like dis no suppose disturb am.

Why fake news about celebrity dey easily trend on social media

Nigerian social media expert Oluwatobiloba Oluwatoyin tell BBC News Pidgin say one major driver of fake news na becos pipo dey benefit from di traffic.

"Di rave now na wetin pipo dey call "banger boys", wia dem go just write anytin just becos dem want traffic and get money from Elon Musk, as dem dey tok," Oluwatoyin tok.

E say anoda reason na becos pipo (especially blogs) wan be di first to break di news, and dem dey mostly target celebrities wey neva dey for limelight for a while.

"Na why dem dey choose celebs like Olu Jacobs, Pete Edochie, etc. Na mostly just to get traffic on dia blogs or be di first to break di news," e add.

Under X creator monetisation programme, users dey earn money based on engagement, particularly replies and interactions from oda verified or active accounts. In practice, e mean say posts wey provoke shock, anger, grief, or argument dey perform well well.

While X officially dey discourage misinformation, dia monetisation mechanics dey unintentionally reward virality ova verification.