“Invitation by ICPC is part of their routine regulatory duties and this should not raise any concern.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
The story of the arrest and detention of Mr. Paul Chukwuma is untrue in its entirety. Stories like this are easy to verify. The good thing, however, is that the fake story has once again raised a serious question of credibility and reliability within Nigeria’s media space. It is disturbing that media outfits can just pick up unverified stories and publish them without much care to the damage it does to its reputation or the subject of the reportage. For a start, this is not about Paul Chukwuma, the next victim tomorrow, or the previous victim.
In any case, it is indeed disturbing that fake news appears to be undergoing a process of mainstreaming in Nigeria. It just appears that the mainstream media now try to function in the same anonymity gab of social media, where “copied,” symbolizes a worthy source and confirmation of any story. The only difference is that there is still the name of the author and publishing setup, but the rigours of investigation and confirmation, as well as the proper layout of facts, are lacking.
First of all, Paul Chukwuma was not arrested. He was invited by ICPC over a petition on the management of Tetfund in which a company he has an interest in was involved. In a letter dated May 28, 2024, the ICPC invited Chukwuma for an interview on 4th June, 2024. “The Managing Director is required to appear for an interview before the undersigned on Tuesday, 4th June, 2024 at the ICPC headquarters Abuja at 10:00 am,” a part of the letter reads. The letter was signed by Ag. Director of Operations for the Commission. Paul Chukwuma, our source confirmed honoured this invitation. It was a long interview that lasted for hours, Chukwuma later confirmed. “Yes, we were invited for an interview and I got there a bit late. The interview was long and they needed more documents from my office,” Paul Chukwuma said. Responding to if he was arrested or detained, Chukwuma noted that he was neither arrested nor detained, but only spent some time at the ICPC headquarters in the course of the interview. “I was only there for some hours. It was a long interview. But by the time the story was published, I was already working in my office.” This was also confirmed by sources at the ICPC headquarters. There is a clear difference between an arrest and an interview. Even more, there is a difference between interviews and detention by the ICPC or any other law enforcement establishment.
The big question is, why is fake news attractive anyway? The Centre for Information Technology and Society, at the University of California, said that fake news is attractive due to the “feature of human thinking.” They noted that “cognitive biases” or “shortcuts in reasoning,” make fake news attractive. Responding to this question, Prof. Sheriff Folarin of the Department of Political Science at the Texas State University, in an exclusive interview said that fake news thrives because of sensationalism. “Fake news is attractive because of the sensationalism it creates. People enjoy sensational stories. It tickles their fancy.” Fake news is a major challenge to journalism all over the world.
Only recently, a reputable Nigerian journalist had relied on a fake story to write a popular article about a retired Commissioner of Police. The retired Police Commissioner has since made known his intention to challenge the writer in court. Nevertheless, the fact that an experienced and reputable Nigerian journalist can fall for unconfirmed stories picked from social media, might suggest that fake stories are now being mainstreamed in Nigeria. In the case in point, there was no way Paul Chukwuma’s invitation by the ICPC could have been taken to mean an arrest or detention by the agency.
Yet, the question remains, why is fake news attractive? Dr. Bonnie Ayodele, Political Scientist, and Researcher, added that fake news tends to align with the expectation of people from their rivals or competitors and that aside from being a part of human nature, it (fake news) ultimately sells. “There is a popular journalism quote that nothing sells like bad news. Bad news is as good as selling popular. Then also, generating fake news is easy. Fake news deals with sensationalism, and invokes the expectation of detractors. People love to hear something that’s degradable about others and I think it’s a part of human nature,” Dr. Ayodele said in an exclusive interview.
In the final analysis, invitation by ICPC is part of their routine regulatory duties and this should not raise any concern. A statement signed by Emeka Obi, media assistant to Paul Chukwuma has dismissed the report as false. “We wish to state categorically that this report is entirely false”, the statement reads in part. But many hours later, the fake story is still being circulated and published by media organizations. This is a sign that Nigeria’s mainstream media might be under some serious attack by fake news and somehow, that has to be stopped.
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