Al-Mustapha
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.”
Also, a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who tweets via @realffk, is also suffering from the activities of impersonators.
An account @realFFK1 uses his name and photograph and all the basic information on the bio-data of Fani-Kayode’s original Twitter handle.“Please, beware of fake Twitter accounts that use my name and picture,’’ a warning on his Twitter bio read. [i-Punch]
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