Nigeria: Image Photoshopped, No Evidence Popular Nigerian Journalist Seun Okinbaloye Was Arrested for Interview

22 October 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Semilore Adelola

Image photoshopped, no evidence popular Nigerian journalist Seun Okinbaloye was arrested for interview

IN SHORT: A viral post on Facebook appears to claim that Seun Okinbaloye, a popular Nigerian journalist, was arrested by Interpol after a "disastrous interview". But the claim is false and no such arrest took place.

Popular Nigerian journalist Seun Okinbaloye has been arrested by the International Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol, according to posts on Facebook.

One post, dated 24 September 2024, reads: "Sad end of Seun Okinbaloye! What did he say in his disastrous interview?"

The post includes a screenshot of what appears to be an article from Punch newspaper, with the headline "Seun Okinbaloye did not know that the microphone was on, and we are saying goodbye to him forever".

It also includes an image of Okinbaloye, apparently being led away in handcuffs by a man wearing an Interpol uniform. It includes a link, but this doesn't lead to a Punch article.

Okinbaloye hosts the political programme Politics Today on Channels TV. He also has a podcast called Mic on Podcast, where he discusses sensitive issues affecting Nigerians with public officials and activists.

The post has had over 3,000 views and attracted hundreds of comments.

We found the same claim here and here.

In July 2024, Okinbaloye was rumoured to have been sacked by Channels TV. Africa Check investigated and found this to be false.

But is it true that the journalist was arrested in September? We checked.

Fake website, false article

Africa Check first did a Google reverse image search of the image apparently showing Okinbaloye's arrest and found that it had been doctored.

The original photo shows Interpol arresting the Nigerian suspect Aminu Ogwuche, in connection with the Nyanya bomb blast that took place in Abuja in April 2014.

We then clicked on the link in the suspicious post, which led us to a website made to look similar to Punch newspaper's official website.

The first red flag is the URL, which is "expertaffil.com", not punchng.com. The "article" also doesn't show a publication date or the social media icons that appear on the media outlet's website. The byline, or author name, is included at the end of the article, not below the headline, which is the newspaper's standard format.

The headline of the suspicious article is also different from the headline in the links posted on social media. It reads "Central Bank of Nigeria sues Seun Okinbaloye over statements he made on live television" with the subheading "Live on air, Seun Okinbaloye regretted revealing the truth. But it was already too late". These kinds of disparities are also clues that the viral story is not to be trusted.

The article goes on:

The scandal erupted during a live broadcast, when Seun Okinbaloye accidentally revealed his secret on the program. Many viewers paid attention to Seun Okinbaloye's "accidental" words and started sending messages on air. However, the show was interrupted by a call from the Bank of Nigeria who demanded that the program be stopped immediately.Fortunately, we were able to persuade the director of the "With Chude" program to give us a copy of the recording of this program. If you've had a chance to read this article, keep in mind that it may soon be deleted, as has happened with broadcasting. So if you've had a chance to read this article, you should instead check out the link provided to us by Seun Okinbaloye himself.

The article implies that Okinbaloye was being interviewed on the podcast With Chude. This is a popular podcast hosted by Chude Jideonwo, a Nigerian TV host, filmmaker and media entrepreneur. There is no "link" in the article.

Africa Check has not been able to find any evidence that Okinbaloye was interviewed by Jideonwo.

Africa Check concluded the website was fake when we couldn't access any other page on the site. Clicking on the "feature" icon led to an entirely unrelated page.

We searched for reputable media reports of Okinbaloye's arrest or him being "sued" by the Central Bank of Nigeria, but found nothing. If it were true, such events would have made the news.

There has also been no official statements from the bank, Channels TV or Okinbaloye himself about him being arrested or being sued.

The image circulating on social media has been altered and the story accompanying it is not to be believed.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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