Former Presidential Aide Questions Continued Detention After Student Allegedly Deleted Fake Shutdown Post and Apologised
Former presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, has appealed to OPay Digital Services Limited to reconsider the arrest of Haifa Abubakar over a viral post falsely claiming that the fintech company had shut down its operations.
Ahmad made the appeal in a post on X on Thursday, saying Abubakar had admitted her mistake and, to his understanding, complied with OPay’s request to delete the post and apologise.
He said while her action was wrong, her alleged compliance with the company’s demands raised questions about why she was subsequently arrested.
“From what I have followed, after her tweet went viral, OPay only asked her to take down the post and issue an apology within a specified timeframe. My understanding is that she did exactly what she was asked to do,” Ahmad said.
He said the situation would have been different if Abubakar had refused to delete the post or apologise, adding that keeping her in custody served little useful purpose if she had complied with OPay’s request.
Ahmad described Abubakar as a young woman and student and urged OPay to review the matter, saying accountability should not prevent compassion where wrongdoing had been acknowledged.
“We can condemn what Haifa did without condemning her as a person,” he said.
The appeal comes after the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre arrested Abubakar on September 4, 2026, over the circulation of the fake OPay shutdown notice.
The NPF-NCCC said its digital forensic investigation traced the publication to the X handle @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, which was linked to Abubakar.
According to the Police, operatives began digital forensic analysis and online tracing after the false notice circulated widely, leading to her arrest.
Ahmad urged OPay to have Abubakar released and allow the incident to serve as a lesson rather than unnecessarily derail the student’s future.