Demolition of Ile Arugbo and Accompanying Fake News -By Musa Aliyu

People of Kwara State woke up on second day of January, 2020 with gory news of demolition of Ile Arugbo,  a property alleged owned by Asa investment Ltd,  a company belonging to late Olooye Abubakar Sola Saraki, father of Nigerian former Senate president, Bukola Saraki and incumbent minister for state for transport,  Gbemi Saraki. It was alleged that the said property lacked necessary papers and documents to support its ownership.

However, controversy like this often generates different actions and reactions.  And notably merchant’s purveyors of fake news will never carry last. It started with a misinformation that the demolished building was Saraki family house, Sahara reporter.  It took officials of Kwara State government efforts and time to correct the impression that Saraki family house was located at Agbaji and not Ile Arugbo and that later was a political meeting point for saraki supporters.

Similarly, social media was awashed with an insinuation that the demolition was done despite restraining court injunction. Again, Kwara commissioner of communication had to issue statement to also put the record straight that there was no any court order as the time of demolition.

And internet showed carton of what looked like slave trade with caption of saraki slave camp.  This is also misinformation as no record of such exists prior to the demolition. Perhaps, it was done to totally discredit saraki political camp as slave breeder.

A Facebook post on Kwara South Actualiser accounts that 13 human heads had been exhumed in clay pots and salt buried inside Ile Arugbo is another story making round. Matecfact provide an update when we get in touch with police to shed light on this.

The Kwara state police PRO, DSP Ajayi Okasanmi said no such incident has been reported. He was of belief that the purveyor of that fake news will soon be invited to come and substantiate his claim.

Musa Aliyu is Director, Media Advocacy and Technologies Center, MATEC, an ilorin-based fact-checking civic hub. Can be reached on @matecNigeria