Police arrest female suspect over alleged false OPay shutdown
The Nigeria Police Force said its Cybercrime Centre traced and arrested a female suspect, Hafsat Abubakar, for allegedly announcing false shutdown of a fintech in Nigeria, OPay.
A statement on Thursday by the force spokesperson, Ani Iniedu, said Ms Abubakar was arrested on Friday and three mobile phones were recovered during her arrest.
He stated that false communication was designed to appear as an official corporate notice, bearing OPay’s logo, corporate branding, company name and a purported management signature and endorsement.
“It falsely suggested that the company was shutting down its operations which was capable of misleading members of the public and causing unnecessary concern among customers,” Mr Iniedu said.
He explained that following the circulation of the false notice, operatives of the NPF-NCCC commenced digital forensic analysis and online tracing to establish its source and identify those responsible for its dissemination.
“The investigation traced the notice to the X handle, @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, linked to Hafsat Abubakar, who was subsequently arrested by NPF-NCCC operatives on September 4, 2026.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect published the notice on her X handle and subsequently shared it through another X handle, @CUTE_HAFSERH, where she tagged social-media influencers and accompanied the post with the caption, “Rremove Your Money Now,” the statement read.
He noted that the suspect stated that she obtained the notice from a WhatsApp status, adding that the publication reportedly recorded approximately 572,000 views within minutes of being posted.
“Three Apple mobile phones were recovered from the suspect as exhibits. Investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the creation and dissemination of the false notice and to identify any other persons who may have been involved”, he said.
He added that the suspect, alongside any other person found culpable would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.
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