Kankara: Abike Dabiri under fire over tweet claiming release of abducted schoolboys

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has come under fire on social media for claiming that the over 300 schoolboys kidnapped by Boko Haram in Kankara, Katsina State, had been released.

Incidentally,  about the time of her tweet, a video was released showing that boys still in captivity.

Dabiri-Erewa, who is a former aide to the President,  then deleted the tweet and claimed that her verified Twitter account had been hacked.

She tweeted, “Please don’t credit any post on Katsina boys to my twitter handle. I lost control of my handle in the last couple of minutes, along with my Instagram. I have recovered and changed my password.”

However,  Dabiri-Erewa’s clarification was dismissed by a large section of Nigerians on Twitter who saw her claim as damage control.

They asked the former journalist to take the path of honour by apologising for tweeting fake news rather than claiming that her account had been hacked.

@UgwunnaEjikem said, “Ten minutes ago, you said it was a fake handle, now you’re claiming you lost control of your accounts.”

Edward Israel-Ayide @wildeyeq added, “The honorable thing to do is say ‘I apologise for my earlier tweet saying the kidnapped Katsina students have been freed. New information shows this is false. The Buhari government is working to secure their release and this will be communicated in due course’.”

Tiwa @Swittiwa, who attached a screenshot of Abike’s tweet, said, “So, the person that hacked your account is Using iPhone and also in the same Location as you?” Punch