The State Security Services (SSS), on Friday, arrested the alleged mastermind of a video of the phantom marriage between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.
The fake video also had a version that depicted the president’s marriage to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
The suspect who was paraded at the SSS headquarters in Abuja on Friday is Kabiru Mohammed, a 32-year-old indigene of Kano.
He is also a holder of a diploma certificate in Hausa and Fulfulde from the Federal College of Education, Kano, and also a diploma in Mass Communication from Aminu Kano Islamic School.
The spokesperson of the SSS, Peter Afunanya, said the suspect, who claims to be a member of a Kano-based political pressure group, Kwankwasiya, has already admitted to being the creator and sharer of the fake viral videos.
Mr Afunanya said the SSS launched an investigation into the origin of the video following a formal complaint by the finance minister.
“Last year, 2019 between August and October, there was a defamatory video that circulated widely across Nigeria showing false engagement of Mr President in marriage with some members of his cabinet,” Mr Afunanya said.
He said Mrs Ahmed had filed a formal complaint to the service on October 11, 2019, that the video caused her huge embarrassment. She demanded an investigation into the source of the audio/video and other associated materials, including infographics that circulated in the country.
The SSS spokesperson said the minister asked that the investigation should help identify the persons or groups of persons that may have been behind the circulation of the defamatory materials.
Following the investigations, Mr Afunanya said the service apprehended the suspect.
The spokesperson said investigations into the matter are still continuing to determine the actual motive behind the suspect’s decision to produce and circulate the materials.
“What we can assure Nigerians is that we would continue to deepen this investigation and bring it to a logical conclusion.
“We will do everything needful within the ambit of the law to bring this to a logical conclusion, to determine whether there are other persons, interests and motives behind this other than what the suspect has confessed,” he said.
