‘Alert Screenshot’ Of Zamfara Governor Transfer Of 16M To Terror Kingpin Was Forged
The screenshot of the alert incorrectly wrote "fist bank" instead of "First Bank," and sixteen million in figures as "16.000.000.000."
A screenshot of a debit alert has been circulating on social media, claiming that Bello Matawalle, the governor of Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria, transferred N16million to Bello Turji, a terror kingpin on Dec. 1, 2021.
According to one of those who posted the screenshot alongside the picture of Governor Matawalle and Turji on Facebook, the “hidden secret was revealed after many prayers by the citizens.”
“The hidden secret is being revealed by God after prayers from the oppressed, and this is God’s promise that he will support the oppressed in the end,” he said in Hausa.
Rumours and conspiracy theories circulating in the Northwest attributed the insecurity in the region to the work of those in positions of authority for their political selfishness.
Ayuba Musa, a Facebook user, then demanded that the Zamfara State government come and explain, ending the post with a prayer that more secrets would be revealed.
However, HumAngle fact-check found out that the debit alert was unprofessionally forged, with numerous typographical and spelling errors that were easily identified.
The screenshot of the alert incorrectly wrote “fist bank” instead of “First Bank,” and sixteen million in figures as “16.000.000.00.” The account’s remaining available balance was also written wrongly as “35.786.201.90.” In the figures, full stops were used where comas were supposed to be.
Comparing the First Bank alert to the screenshot also revealed that the alert was incorrectly forged and didn’t look like the original bank alert.
Despite the obvious errors in the forged alert, the screenshot has continued to circulate on social media riding on the sentiments circulating in the northwest region.
Zamfara State is the hotbed of insecurity in the region which has been suffering from farmer-herder clashes and terrorism known among locals as banditry.
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