By Pascal Ibe
Claim
An X user posted a letter and claimed that a terror suspect, Bashir Hadejia was appointed an aide on mining by Zamfara governor in 2023.
Verdict
This claim is FALSE.
According to findings, some persons forged this viral letter from the original appointment letter for Abdul Balarabe, who was appointed Technical Assistant (Office of Zamfara Governor), Government House media Hub in October, 2023.
Full Text
The arrest of Hadejia, a former aide to the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, sparked ongoing outrage.
Hadejia, who served as a special adviser to Matawalle during his tenure as Governor of Zamfara State, was apprehended recently.
A search warrant issued to the Nigeria Police Force, FCT Police Command, dated August 12, 2024, showed that the suspect was accused of “treason and subversion against the state”
Some Nigerians, who reacted to the development, demanded answers from the authorities after videos and photos indicated that the suspect was connected to top government functionaries and politicians.
As result of this outrage, an X user, David Offor posted an appointment letter attributed to Bashir Hadejia.
David Offor claimed that Hadejia, the terror suspect was appointed an aide on mining by the current Zamfara governor in 2023.
He wrote, “You remember Bashir Hadejia, the man that was arrested for tr3ason, possession of stolen properties and money laundering the other day by the DSS. Yes. Him.
“Here is his employment letter as an aide to one of the North West PDP Governor on Mining since October 2023😭😭
“This story is really getting interesting 😀🤣
Commenting on this, Ikenna said, “Truth don dey come out.
Another user, Jide wrote, “Omo
I no trust any of those Aides again oooo
Mr Usman commented that Bashir Hadeijia is an appointee of Gov Dauda Lawal to carry out his dirty work. Thank God he has been exposed and arrested. Thanks to Bello Matawalle and security services.
In view of these comments, FactWatch decided to run a fact check.
Verification
First, we discovered that in the viral letter, the job designation, Technical Adviser, Mining (Office of the executive governor), Government House, was written in a different font colour which looks forged.
However, when we subjected the viral letter to Google image reverse search, we saw a similar letter but with different name, job designation and paper colour.
In the new letter, we found, a new name, Abdulrahman Garba Balarabe. We also saw a different job designation ( Technical Assistant (Office of the Governor), Government House media Hub), on this letter we discovered.
When FactWatch checked this letter on Google lens, we came across a post on X on October 31,2023 by one Abdul Balarabe.
Abdul Balarabe shared his photo with governor Lawal Dauda and this same appointment letter we found earlier.
The X post by Abdul Balarabe reads, “I am chuffed to announce that I have been appointed by His Excellency the Executive Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal as Technical Assistant (Office of the Governor), Government House media Hub.
A check on the X profile of Abdul Balarabe confirmed that he’s an aide to the current Zamfara governor.
We also saw a report by Channels Television where the Zamfara governor denied giving Bashir Hadejia any appointment.
There was also statement by the Zamfara government that the appointment letter to Hadejia was forged.
Conclusion
After findings, it became clear that the appointment letter to Bashir Hadejia which has gone viral, was forged.
