As if waiting for the former
Chief Security Officer to the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha,
to regain his freedom before perpetrating fraud with his profile, an
impostor has created a Twitter account in the name of Major Hamza
Al-Mustapha.
On Monday,
three days after the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos discharged and
acquitted Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan, an ex-aide to the late
Kudirat Abiola, of murder charges, the impostor opened the account with
the handle @Maj_AlMustapha and has since been sending out tweets on the
social service.
The fake account,
which as at the time of filing this report had sent out 23 messages,
gained over 1, 570 followers but follows nobody.
Initially,
the impostor wrote, “Parody Account’’ on the bio of the account. The
‘Parody Account’ means that the Twitter account is not real.
The
smart alec, however, removed his own disclaimer, few hours after the
account was launched making many Nigerians believe it is being used by
Al Mustapha.
The first set of tweets
from the account states, “At last, I am free! Thanks to those who
supported me over the years. May Allah repay you. The social networks
weren’t existing before I went to prison. Over there, I heard a lot has
changed and now I can see for myself.”
His
first tweet was retweeted 108 times by many who were deceived into
believing that they were communicating with the real Al-Mustapha.
One
of the followers of the account tweeting via @SmsnA1foods noted, “Major
(Al-Mustapha) welcome! We have been waiting for years to have time to
ask so many questions. I hope your integrity and character will allow
you to answer.’’
One Bukky Olawoyin,
tweeting via @bukkyolawoyin, communing with the impostor, said, “Major
Al-Mustapha, it (Twitter) would afford you the opportunity to speak to
the people far and near directly and tell your side of the story – the
truth.’’
Another user who uses the
handle, @fatybayero, said he/she looks forward to getting to hear from
al-Mustapha on the social service about what actually transpired at the
time. “Want to know the real fact in 1994. I was just a year old,’’ the
Twitter user explained.
When the
news filtered in that the Nigerian Army confirmed that al-Mustapha
remained a serving officer of the Army since he was neither dismissed
nor sacked during the years of his trial, the impostor took to Twitter,
saying he needs some time out of work to relax.
“The
Nigerian Army has confirmed that I, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, is still a
personnel of the Armed Forces. Though, I need some time to rest.
Soldier go, soldier come, barracks remain. I just want to spend time
with my family. I haven’t given my children that fatherly time and
moments, I will surely do so In Sha Allah,’’ the message on the Twitter
handle stated.
Al Mustapha is not
the only Nigerian facing the problem of identity theft on Twitter.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben
Abati, who tweets via @abati1990, is also battling with impostors on the
micro-blogging service.
Two Twitter accounts @DrReubenAbati and @ReubenAbati, bearing Abati’s name and photograph, are active on the social service.
The
personal information on @DrReubenAbati stated, “Official account of the
Federal Government of Nigeria spokesman. I missed my days at The
Guardian Newspapers.”
On June 14,
one Nosa Irabor, tweeting via @nosairabor, tweeted a message to Abati,
asking, “Dear @abati1990, I just want to find out if this Twitter handle
@DrReubenAbati is also managed by you?”
Replying
one of the many inquiries about the activities of impostors on Twitter,
Abati replied, “Disclaimer: I am not @DrReubenAbati or @ReubenAbati on
Twitter. These are fake handles, run by impersonators.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com