The Management of ThisDay Newspapers has invited Security Agencies to unmask those behind a counterfeit edition of its Digital Edition of Friday, August 27.
Nigerians woke up on Saturday to a cloned edition of ThisDay, with a lead story where Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, asked Imo Girls to marry Fulani Herdsmen in the State, promising to foot the bill of the wedding. He was also quoted to have placed a fine of One Million Naira on any parent who rejected such marriage.
In a statement dated August 28, 2021, and signed by its Managing Director, Eniola Bello, the ThisDay Management condemned the criminal act in very strong terms, saying it never had such a story on any of its editions.
It reads:
PRESS STATEMENT
Fake Digital Edition of THISDAY Friday, 27 August 2021 in Circulation on Social Media
“The attention of the Management of THISDAY has been drawn to a fake version of our digital edition making the rounds on some social media platforms.
With the headline: “Shocking: Uzodinma declares Free Marriage Between Fulani Settlers and Imo Ladies”, this fake version of our digital edition is being circulated on WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media platforms.
“We wish to state that THISDAY at no time published the said story. Our lead story on Friday, August 27 was, “Buhari Elated as NNPC Breaks Jinx, Declares N287bn Profit, First in 44 Years”.
“Sadly, these merchants of fake news have chosen to leverage on the credibility and integrity of THISDAY to ply their trade.
“We completely reject this poor attempt by some unscrupulous people at impersonating our brand and identity in pursuit of whatever agenda they may have, by seeking to disseminate fake news to members of the public as emanating from THISDAY.
“For the avoidance of doubt, readers can easily verify our Friday publication from the print edition, or online (www.thisdaylive.com). We, therefore, call on members of the public who may have unwittingly fallen for the cloned digital copy to disregard it and treat it with the utmost contempt it deserves.
“We also use this opportunity to call on security agencies to help unmask the counterfeiters behind this forgery and bring them to book.”
