THE Buhari administration has dismissed rumours making the rounds that the Federal Government of Nigeria intervened in the detention ordeal of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in London, United Kingdom last week.
Obi was briefly detained at Heathrow Airport in London last Friday for questioning during his trip to celebrate Easter in the UK.
One of President Muhammadu Buhari’s aides, Bashir Ahmad on Thursday, posted a viral fake photo, showing the executive chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission – NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, seated in an office with Obi and a UK law enforcement officer.
Ahmad’s tweet implied that the Federal Government intervened in Peter Obi’s ordeal to secure his release.
“I heard Aunty @Abike Dabiri has done it for the Compatriot that needed her intervention in the UK. God bless you and the services you have been rendering for our countrymen and women, especially this recent one, ma’am!”
Ahmad’s post went viral and one of the retweets attracted 1.6m views within a few hours.
Meanwhile, in a swift reaction, the head of Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit of NiDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, disowned the viral photo, saying NiDCOM boss, Dabiri-Erewa, was not in the UK and not in a position to secure the release of any Nigerian suspected to be under UK interrogation
“Our attention has been called to the above social media stunt which has gone viral. Aunty Abike Dabiri-Erewa is NOT in the UK and NOT in a position to secure the release of any Nigerian suspected to be under UK interrogation. So, members of the public should disregard the information in its entirety,” the NiDCOM spokesman stated.
