The State Secret Service has arrested Mahdi Shehu, a prominent whistleblower and rights activist based in Kaduna, over a social media post that suggested France was calling the shots in President Bola Tinubu’s government in Nigeria.

Mr Shehu, arrested over the weekend, allegedly uploaded an old video to falsely imply that Mr Tinubu’s administration was taking instructions from President Emmanuel Macron of France to establish a French military base in the Northwestern region of the country.

The timing of the video, posted shortly after Mr Tinubu’s visit to France, caused rumours to swirl, with commenters dropping hot takes about France’s alleged influence.

Despite deleting the video, which had been viewed and reposted thousands of times, the secret police pounced on Mr Shehu and is currently holding him in their Kaduna office.

Mr Shehu’s arrest was first reported by Solacebase, a newspaper based in Kaduna, which added that the secret police were making arrangements to charge the activist to court by Monday.

Mr Shehu has had his share of run-ins with the government. Earlier this year, he was arrested by the Nigerian police based on a petition by former attorney-general of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

Mr Malami accused Mr Shehu of extortion, alleging he tried to extort $500,000 from his wife, Aisha, but the whìstleblower denied the allegation.

Mr Shehu, a seasoned writer whose decades-long works have been well-documented across the region, said he was being maligned and targeted for a story he was working on that implicated the former justice minister.

The government did not present any evidence to substantiate allegations of extortion against Mr Shehu back in February, but he was eventually released.