OPay shutdown post: Arrested woman regrets sharing fake notice

The suspect, Hafsat Abubakar

A woman arrested by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre for allegedly circulating a fake notice announcing the shutdown of OPay’s operations has expressed regret, admitting that she failed to verify the information before reposting it.

The woman, identified as Hafsat Abubakar, said she deleted the post and issued a public apology after OPay drew her attention to the publication on its official social media platforms.

Speaking in a video recorded while she was being paraded by the police on Thursday, Abubakar admitted that she did not verify the information with OPay or the person who originally shared it before reposting it.

Asked if she had confirmed the information with the original poster before sharing it, she said, “No, I didn’t.”

Abubakar said she became aware of OPay’s objection after the company published a notice on its official social media pages, where her name and X handle, @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, were mentioned.

She said, “So I saw the post on Twitter where they wrote my name there and my handle, @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA. That’s where they called my attention on Twitter to take it down and render a public apology, which I made the same day.”

She said she explained in the apology that she was unaware the information was false and regretted the consequences of sharing it.

According to her, she later received a police invitation after OPay petitioned the authorities over the matter.

She said, “After I apologised for about five days, which was on September 4, I was arrested by the Nigeria Police at home. When I asked what my offence was, they said OPay filed a petition against me, and they were also investigating the case, so I had to come to Abuja with them from Zaria, Kaduna State.”

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The police said that on August 31, 2026, the NPF National Cybercrime Centre received a formal petition from OPay Digital Services Limited through the office of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department.

According to the police, the petition requested an investigation into the creation and circulation of a fraudulent document purportedly issued by OPay.

The police said its digital forensics team traced the circulation of the document, leading to Abubakar’s arrest and the recovery of three mobile phones.

The document, according to the police, was designed to resemble an official corporate notice, bearing OPay’s logo, corporate branding, company name, and a purported management signature and endorsement.

It falsely announced that OPay was shutting down its operations, which the police said was capable of misleading members of the public and causing unnecessary concern among its customers.

Abubakar, who said she had an OPay account and was a customer of the company, urged Nigerians to verify information before sharing it on social media.

She said, “My advice to the whole of Nigeria is to first verify before posting anything. Either posting or sharing, we have to verify and stop posting or spreading false information.

“OPay is one of my favourite companies and I enjoy doing business with them. I don’t wish them any harm or to spoil their reputation. Yes, I never knew the information was false. I wouldn’t have posted it.”

Expressing remorse over the incident, Abubakar said, “I regret my actions and any trouble that I have caused them. I’m very sorry.”