Fake Tinubu Letter: DSS Charges Kaduna Man With Cybercrime, Defamation

The Department of State Services (DSS) has instituted a three-count charge against a Kaduna resident, Mubarak Abdullahi, over the alleged circulation of a fake letter purportedly written by President Bola Tinubu to the President of the United States.

Abdullahi, popularly known as Sardaunan Samari, was arrested on September 28 after allegedly posting the document on Facebook with the caption, “ATIKU IS COMING.”

Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, announced the development on X late Monday, saying the suspect had been arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court No. 10, Kabala Doki, Kaduna.

According to Onanuga, the suspect, whom he described as a supporter of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, is facing legal action over the circulation of the purported letter.

The presidential aide stated, “An avowed supporter of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar now faces trial in Kaduna for circulating a document purportedly written by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the President of the United States of America.”

He added that Abdullahi admitted to investigators that he shared the document and apologised for his actions.

“Mubarak admitted to investigators that he shared the fake document and apologised for his actions. The contrition was not enough,” Onanuga wrote.

He further disclosed that the suspect was remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Kaduna following a court order. According to the presidential aide, the DSS has also filed a three-count charge bordering on cybercrime and defamation against Abdullahi at the Federal High Court, Kaduna.

Onanuga maintained that the agency would continue to identify individuals involved in spreading what he described as misleading information online.

The arrest, however, drew criticism from human rights activist and AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, who accused the DSS of targeting dissenting voices.

Reacting in a post on X on Tuesday, Sowore condemned the agency’s action and questioned its role in the case.

He wrote, “How low will you go, #OfficialAPCNg and the #officialABAT regime? How on earth do you reduce a national security agency like the #OfficialDSSNG to a mere vacuum cleaner, deployed to sweep up dissenting voices in your inordinate ambition to subdue every citizen simply because you are afraid to face the Nigerian people and account for your disastrous reign?”

Sowore continued, “Arresting a hapless citizen for posting a document online – sad! Shame on all of you! A day of reckoning is coming, when you too will be held accountable for your actions. That day is coming sooner than you think. Very soon!”

Neither Atiku Abubakar nor his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, had publicly responded to the development as of the time of writing.

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