Hafsat Abubakar, the woman arrested over the alleged creation and circulation of a forged document claiming that fintech company OPay had shut down its operations, has said she deleted the post and publicly apologised after the company described the document as fake.
Abubakar disclosed this on Thursday while speaking to journalists after she was paraded at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
According to her, she was arrested five days after removing the post and issuing a public apology, following a petition filed by OPay.
“When I saw the notice immediately after they made it, I deleted the post immediately and rendered an apology on the same day,” she said.
She explained that OPay had given her until 11:59 p.m. on August 31 to take down the post and apologise.
“I took the post down around 8 p.m. and made an apology before 11 p.m.,” she added.
Abubakar said she was subsequently arrested at her home in Zaria, Kaduna State, on September 4.
“After I apologised, about five days later, which was on September 4, I was arrested by the Nigeria Police at home. When I asked what my offence was, they said OPay had filed a petition against me and that they were also investigating the case, so I had to come to Abuja with them from Zaria, Kaduna State,” she stated.
She said she became aware of the issue after seeing a notice published by OPay on its official social media platforms, where the company identified her X account, @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, and called on her to remove the post and apologise.
“I told them that I never knew the information was false. That was why I posted it on my page, and I regretted any inconvenience caused by spreading the false information,” she said.
When asked whether she had resisted taking down the post or issuing the apology, Abubakar replied, “No, there wasn’t.”
She subsequently urged Nigerians to verify information before publishing or resharing content on social media.
“My advice to the whole of Nigeria is to first verify before posting anything, either posting or resharing. We have to verify it and stop posting,” she said.
The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre had earlier announced Abubakar’s arrest over the circulation of a fake notice purporting that OPay Digital Services Limited had shut down its operations.
According to the police, Abubakar was arrested on September 4, 2026, after operatives traced the allegedly false notice to an X account linked to her.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, said operatives of the NPF-NCCC commenced digital forensic analysis and online tracing after the notice was circulated.
He said the investigation was aimed at determining the source of the document and identifying those responsible for its creation and dissemination.
Iniedu said the investigation eventually traced the publication to the X handle @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, which was linked to Abubakar, leading to her arrest by NPF-NCCC operatives.
