Barely 24 hours after his release from custody, the social media has reverberated with news of Obi Cubana taking pictures with staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which detained and grilled him for three days early this week.
In the controversial picture, which has been described as ‘fake’, Cubana is seen posing with a crowd with some wearing red berets, giving the impression they were Nigerian security officials but not those of EFCC, whose attires are different.
The picture, which has since gone viral, is generating hot discourse on social media but the EFCC has punctured the bubble, describing it as fake news that should be ignored.
Spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said the picture was the work of desperate elements out to distract and misinform.
Wilson said in a statement to Vanguard on Friday: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has been drawn to fake news trending on social media with the caption, “EFCC Crew poses for quick photograph with billionaire socialite and businessman Obi Cubana”.
“The caption is as fake as any fake news can ever be because, at no time during his ongoing investigation, period in custody or release did Obi Cubana pose for photographs with EFCC staff.
“Uncle Deji, a popular security expert using his social media handle, has further debunked the fake news, saying:
“This post is deliberately misleading, this picture was taken 7th October 2021 during a book launch of Colonel Chukwu Obasi at Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja in which Obi Cubana attended as a guest”.
“Members of the public are strongly advised to ignore the fake news and misleading imputation which has been traced to the social media account of Sabi Radio (sabiradio), which first went to town with the fake news at 1.06 pm on 5 November, 2021. Sabiradio’s watermark is telltale on the photograph.
Credit: Vanguard Newspaper Ngr