PICTURES of some student union leaders of the Federal University Dutse (FUD) with ‘security details’ have gone viral on the social media in Nigeria.
The images which trended on Twitter and Facebook show the Students Union Government (SUG) president and vice president being escorted by other students dressed in black suits.
The FUD is located in Jigawa state.
A Twitter user Maazi Ogbonnaya Okoro with the user ID @maazi-ogbonnaya tweeted the pictures which from his caption showed the SUG president on his way to class. He suggested that an SUG president moving with security details can only happen in a particular part of the country.
He said, “Imagine if it’s south-east, EFCC will arrest oke na ngwere”.
In Igbo language ‘Oke na ngwere’ – ‘rats and lizards’ – literally means “everyone” and the Twitter user was implying that if it was in the South-East everyone involved will be arrested.
A Nigerian human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong also shared the pictures on his Facebook and Twitter pages.
What is the story?
The FactCheckHub findings show that the photos were from Federal University Dutse.
The SUG’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mohammed Nazif in a telephone conversation with The FactCheckHub said the man and a woman seen in some of the pictures are the SUG president Muhammad Mukhtar and the SUG vice president Zainab Ibrahim.
He also added that the pictures were taken on November 2, 2021 when the university had its matriculation ceremony for new students.
Separate findings by The FactCheckHub confirmed the institution had its matriculation on November 2.
Nazif added that “The day also coincides with the day the students of Criminology and Security Studies (CSS) Department had their week.”
Some higher institutions in Nigeria usually pick a time to celebrate departmental week. The ‘week’ is marked with series of events which could be academic-oriented, sports, entertainment and so on.
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Nazif said the men in black accompanying the SUG president’s car in one of the pictures and also seen in other pictures are students of the CSS department who in celebration of their week and in line with their course acted as security details for SUG officials on the day.
He clarified that “the car in one of the pictures and one other bus belongs to the SUG and not to the president”.
Furthermore, the university’s Chief Information Officer Abdullahi Yahaya Bello also said the SUG president does not attend lectures in a convoy with security in tow, as suggested by some people on the social media.
“The students of the CSS department as part of their study’s requirements usually act as security personnel for lecturers and SUG officials on few occasions and that’s what happened on the day the pictures were taken,” Bello said.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via [email protected]. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.