FACT CHECK: Did Obi help secure clemency for Nigerians on death row in Singapore?

A post on social media claimed that five hundred thousand Nigerians on death row in Singapore have been released after Peter Obi’s intervention.

“Breaking News: Singapore released 500 thousand Nigerians on death row after Peter Obi pleaded on their behalf,” the post reads.

The post was initially shared by a social media user, @DattiYusufahmed, who cloned the account of Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

Checks by TheCable revealed that the cloned account with username @DattiYusufahmed and profile name Dr Yusuf Datti Ahmed has been renamed to Ejike Ofoegbu and @Ejikeofoegbu1 as its new username.

The post appeared on the renamed Twitter account before it was eventually deleted. It was also published as breaking news on a news website by the name Dailyexcessive.

Verification

Using Yandex, a reverse image search on one of the pictures showing prisoners dressed in brown, looking out behind bars, revealed that the picture was taken at Rwanda’s Gitarama prison 5, where Hutu prisoners were kept.

TheCable reached out to an official of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) who said the commission is not aware of such development.

“NIDCOM does not have any information on this matter at the moment,” the official said.

A further Twitter search showed that the official Twitter handle of the Labour Party’s vice presidential candidate is @dattibabaahmed and not @DattiYusufahmed.

On August 1, at a media briefing in Abuja, Datti Baba-Ahmed disassociated himself from fake social media accounts attributed to him. He added that several social media accounts across different platforms were opened by suspected impostors without his knowledge or approval.

“I declare that all exchanges and communications therefrom are without my knowledge or input in any way whatsoever. I humbly call on the general public on and offline to disregard any and all exchanges and communications from the fake social media accounts,” he said.

Verdict

The claim that Peter Obi’s intervention led to the release of five hundred thousand Nigerians on death row in Singapore is false.