IN
recent times, the number of Facebookers has continued to increased, but one
aspect that worries industry watchers is the fact that despite this increase,
there seem to be an astronomical rise of fake Facebook accounts.
According
to SocialBraker.com, the social networking statistics show that Facebook
penetration in Nigeria is 4.22 per cent compared to the country’s population
and 14.43 per cent in relation to number of Internet users. The total number of
Nigerian Facebookers stood at 6,501,380, an indication that it has grown by
over 1,870,460 since the last six months as at December 31, 2012.
However,
notable Nigerians who have their Facebook accounts created include the former
two-time president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Noble laureate Prof.
Wole Soyinka, student millionaire, Ebube Essien-Garricks, Director-General,
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul
Orhii, and much lately the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim.
Investigations
by DigitalSENSE Business News revealed that one of the consistent features of
fake Facebook account is the fact that these accounts come on stream without
the knowledge of the person whose photo may have appeared in any Facebook
account as the profile owner.
In the
list of the figures known in the country to have been victims of the fake
Facebook accounts, erudite scholar, Prof. Wole Soyinka is on the top with over
30 Facebook pages created and associated with his person.
CDS owns
no FB account:
Although
the Force headquarters has since seen to the deletion of the CDS Facebook it
may not have been the first time such a person in that capacity, Defence
headquarters also warned over a fake Facebook account that bears the name and
picture of the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim.
Director
of Defence Information, Col. Mohammed Yerima, said in a statement made
available to DigitalSENSE Business News, that the Chief of Defence Staff did
not own the said Facebook account.
Yerima
also cautioned members of the public against transacting any business with the
fake account, stressing that anybody dealing with it would be doing so at his
or her own risk. Just as Defence Headquarters made efforts to track down those
behind the creation of the account in the name and official picture of the CDS.
… At
your own risk:
“The
attention of Defence Headquarters has been drawn to the existence of a fake
Face book account of the Chief of Defence Staff, created by some cyber
criminals in the popular social network. The Facebook account with the name
‘Chief of Defence Staff’ has the official picture of the CDS Admiral OS
Ibrahim. The general public is hereby warned that the Chief of Defence Staff or
Defence Headquarters does not operate any official Facebook account or page.
Any person who transacts any business or makes any comment in the said fake
Facebook account does so at his or her own risk.”
Further,
he said in the press statement that Defence Headquarters views this as a
criminal act and effort is being made to trace and bring the perpetrators to
book. This is for the awareness of the general public.
Obasanjo
garners 8,516 likes:
For
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who served twice as Nigeria’s head of state; as a
military ruler between 13 February 1976 to 1 October 1979 and as elected
President from 29 May, 1999 to May 2007, has some four Facebook accounts,
namely ‘Olusegun Obasanjo’ as government official; ‘Aremu Olusegun
Obasanjo’; ‘Gibson Olusegun Obasanjo’
and ‘Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Art Competition.’
Of all
the aforementioned, the official Facebook account as at the time of filing this
report has 8,516 people who like the page, while some 128 people were talking
about the subject – Olusegun Obasanjo.
Asked
recently on how he managed to open a Facebook account, Chief Obasanjo said he
was not aware of any account on Facebook and retorted in his humourous manner,
that if such an account is opened who will fund it?
Ebube
Essien-Garricks too:
The
youngest of this victim is a student and winner of the MTN multimillion naira
promo, Ms Ebube Essien-Garricks, who confessed to DigitalSENSE Business News
that she never owns a Facebook page, soon after she was pronounced the winner
of N64 million worth promo; even with a fake picture of hers.
Ebube,
the star prize winner of the just concluded Ultimate Wonder Promotion by
leading telecommunications operator in Nigeria, MTN, is a student of College of
Health Science and Technology, Rivers State.
The
27-year old female student was overwhelmed on receiving the news via a phone
call opted for the cash value of the plane, which is about N64 million. But
before she could finish dropping the call, a Facebook page emerged unknown to
her or the telecom operator.
Facebook
Tale of DG NAFDAC
For the
Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii,
On
Friday, September 21, 2012, the management of NAFDAC disclaimed a Facebook
account, saying it’s fraudulent.
According
to the Deputy Director, Public Relations and Protocol at NAFDAC, Abubakar
Jimoh, in a public statement made available to DigitalSENSE Business News, the
Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul
Orhii raised alarm over the activities of internet fraudsters who have
established a Facebook account in his name with the aim of duping unsuspecting
Nigerians.
The
fraudsters, he said, have put up a fake Facebook account in the name of Dr.
Paul Orhii requesting prospective contractors to pay the sum of N250,000.00
(Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) in order to get jobs from NAFDAC.
Dr.
Orhii, thus, warned Nigerians not to fall victims to these conmen as he never
owned a Facebook account.
Jimoh
quoted Dr. Orhii as saying that in spite of the advantages of the social media,
he was discouraged from opening a Facebook account all along because of this
type of fraudulent activities by internet scammers.
The
Director General said he was prompted to issue the alert because of some
gullible Nigerians who will be deceived by the fraudsters and appealed to
security agencies to help in tracking down the faceless internet fraudsters.
As at
time of filing this report, Dr. Paul Orhii has three Facebook account, one
depicting him as DG of NAFDAC but lives in Lagos, another says he lives in
Abuja, yet another says he lives in Abuja but from Benue, Nassarawa State;
whereas in the actual fact, Benue State capital is Makurdi. This is followed by
a closed group of Dr. Paul Orhii Foundation with about 240 members.
So, be
forewarned about the kind of information you receive on social media,
especially Facebook.
Fake
Facebook accounts and Wole Soyinka:
The
nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka may be the most faked notable Nigerian on
Facebook with over 30 Facebook accounts on his names, DigitalSENSE Business
News can authoritatively reveal.
The most
popular among this figure is the first Facebook account of Wole Soyinka which
profiled him as an author and has gathered 392,626 likes since its creation,
with 3,200 Facebookans talking about him as at the time of this report.
This was
created and launched on August 18, 2008 by Niyi Aderibigbe of the Diaspora
Events, claiming his love for the personality and way of life of Prof. Wole
Soyinka.
The
second largest followers account on Facebook created for his community page
with 27,417 people who liked the page, whereas 1,678 people were discussing
about the page in the course of this report.
This community page was linked to
Wikipedia, the free online and open source-based encyclopedia.
The next
page of Wole Soyinka on Facebook is the one that sees him as currently a
Professor of Arts at
Emory University and enjoys writing plays and poems based
at Atlanta, Georgia. Equally, another Facebook account claiming ownership of
the Noble Laureate sees him as a public figure with 794 likes, even as WOLE
SOYINKA still as an author has 2,597 likes.
Additionally,
some other Facebook pages created on behalf of Wole Soyinka has 2,597 likes and
regards him as an author.
Aside
the above, Wole Sayinka has over four other Facebook pages without any profile,
but were created with the label of Wole Soyinka with a pair of people bearing
the same names.
Born
July 13, 1934, Akinwande Oluwole ‘Wole’ Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, notable
especially as a playwright and poet. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in
Literature, the first person in Africa and the diaspora to be so honoured.
Soyinka
was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta and after his study in Nigeria and
the United Kingdom (UK), he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London and
went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on
radio.
Prof.
Soyinka is known to have taken active role in Nigeria’s political history and
its struggle for independence from Great Britain. In 1965, he seized the
Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the
cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967 during the
Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu
Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years.
Remmy Nweke/DSBNews
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
No comments:
Post a Comment