AIT denies Facebook account claiming Buhari is dead

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‎NIGERIA: THE African Independent Television (AIT) has distanced itself from a Facebook account alleged to have been opened by the organisation, which claimed that President Muhammed Buhari has died in London.

Buhari had last Thursday travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) for a 10-day holiday, which included undergoing medical check-ups.

The Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Mr. Femi Adesina, said that while away, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, would be in charge as the acting President.

But few days after he left for UK, the social media – including Facebook – was awash with the alleged death of Buhari in a London hospital.

The television station while reacting to the fake Facebook account allegedly belonging to it said in a statement made available to GatewayMail that it had no link with the social network.

“The attention of the Management of Daar Communications Plc has been drawn to a Facebook account purportedly being operated by our organization,” the television station said.

It declared: “A report was published on the Facebook that the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on vacation in London, has passed on.

“‎It is falsehood dressed up as truth that we opened such Facebook account,” the statement through the owner of the station, Daar Communication Plc, explained, adding that it had nothing to do with the alleged Facebook or the published story.

“We did not publish nor know anything about the report,” it explained, while further stressing: “The editorial policy of our organization is that any of our correspondents is mandated to file all their reports for vetting and approval before publication which can only originate from our headquarters.”

It emphasised that the Facebook account was the handiwork of a faceless and mischievous group whose despicable activities must be investigated by security agencies.

It further said: “No correspondent could individually on his or her own decision publish or cause to be published any story.  The Facebook account is the brain child of a faceless and mischievous group whose despicable activities must be investigated by security agencies because of the unpleasant consequences.”

“We wish to state that AIT runs an official on-line site for news which is not available for use by outsiders.  We dissociate ourselves from anything contained in the said report which is a figment of the imagination of the authors,” it also stressed.

“‎We also disown the so-called Facebook account, and have officially reported to Facebook managers,” the station said.‎

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