By Mustapha Lawal
Claim
Yahaya Bello Jumped a Fence To Evade EFCC Arrest
Verdict
The claim that Yahaya Bello evaded EFCC arrest by climbing a fence is FALSE. The trending picture is altered, the original has Cheche’s head replaced by Bello’s.
Full Text
Recently, Nigeria’s Economic EFCC is after Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State due to allegations of money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds amounting to N84,062,406,089.88.
Additionally, there are corruption charges against him, as indicated by the Kogi State Government challenging the EFCC’s actions related to freezing a Kogi State account.
Yahya Bello, the former Kogi Governor has been reported to have failed to honour a summon or even allowed officials of the anti-graft agency to arrest him for questioning on petitions concerning the mismanagement of N84bn and N300bn, while he served as Governor of the confluence state from 2016 to 2024.
Following his evasion of arrest with assistance from the current state governor, Alhaji Usman Ododo, the former Governor has been declared wanted and placed on the watchlist by the EFCC.
However, a trending photo has been circulating on several blogs and social media (Instagram, X,) allegedly showing the former governor attempting to scale a fence to meet Governor Ododo’s security entourage, seeking their assistance in avoiding apprehension by the EFCC.
The trending photo was claimed to have been from his residence on Benghazi Street in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, It was reported that the former Governor was assisted to evade arrest by Ododo, who visited his residence hours after the EFCC had laid siege on his Abuja home on Wednesday, April 17.
The picture, currently trending on social media, has sparked reactions. FactCheckAfrica decided to verify the claim to clear the air on the trending photo.
Verification
FactCheckAfrica ran a check on the photo using Google Reverse Image search. The result showed an earlier copy of such a photo with a different face and background existed online as far back as 2014. This implies that the photo has been tampered with. Additionally, an AI image detector (Fake Image Detector) confirmed it through further analysis.
The earlier version of the picture was from the House of Representatives in 2014, where lawmakers of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) were captured jumping the fence to find their way into the House of Representatives during a political tussle between the lawmakers loyal to the opposition and the PDP-led federal government.
According to DAILY POST, the APC lawmakers were trying to allow the then Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, access to the chambers, but policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), prevented him from entering.
The incident happened on Thursday, November 20, 2014, when the picture, alongside other pictures from the incident, was first published by respective news media outlets and bloggers on different social media platforms. The photos were first shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the late Imam Imam, the then spokesperson to Speaker Tambuwal.
Further findings revealed that the person in the original image is Hon. Abdulmalik Usman Cheche, who represented the Bida/Gbako/Katcha federal constituency of Niger State in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015 and served as the Vice-Chairman of the Culture & Tourism Committee.
The version that has Yahaya Bello in it surfaced on the Internet on April 18, 2024, a day after the unsuccessful attempt by the EFCC to arrest the former Kogi helmsman.
Also, findings from FactCheckAfrica’s recently launched AI fact-checking tool (MyAIFactchecker) showed that the claim that Yahaya Bello evaded EFCC arrest by climbing a fence is FALSE. He was not reported to have jumped the fence of his Abuja residence to evade arrest by the EFCC. Instead, it was reported that the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, helped Yahaya Bello escape arrest by EFCC operatives. Additionally, there was a court order issued in Lokoja protecting Yahaya Bello from actions by the EFCC that could violate his fundamental human rights, the tool summarised.
Conclusion
The claim that Yahaya Bello evaded EFCC arrest by climbing a fence is FALSE. There was no credible report of him jumping the fence of his Abuja residence as his means to evade arrest by the EFCC. The picture that is circulated has been altered, the Original has Hon. Cheche’s head replaced by Yahya Bello’s.
