THE 25-year-old fashion designer, Kowiu Oloyede, arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for posting a viral video falsely claiming that bandits invaded Atan in Ado-Odo/Ota, said he made the clips because he wanted to go viral like popular Nigerian streamer, Habeeb Hamzat, aka Peller.
Last Monday, the suspect, a resident of Sokoto road in Atan-Ota posted a TikTok video on his page “Nice Boy” showing him in a bush with gunshot sounds in the background and the caption, “Bandit is in Atan, help us ooo.”
In the clip, he wore a white singlet and black shorts and was seen hiding in the bush with two others, all appearing panicked as they said they hadn’t seen their mother.
On Wednesday, he posted a second video showing himself kneeling alongside another person, alleging they had been kidnapped and pleading for mercy from a herdsman.
He, however, deleted the second video on Thursday.
The videos were said to have raised his account from 60 followers to 1,345k.
Following this, operatives of the Ogun State police swung into action and arrested Kowiu on Saturday.
In an interview with Newsmen on Monday, the suspect revealed that the intent of the video was to go viral and gain more followers on TikTok.
“I was in my shop and I just noticed that people were using the gunshots sound on TikTok to make videos and were gaining followers so I decided to do the same.
“I felt that’s where Peller started from to become famous. I didn’t know it will put me into trouble. Some many people used the sound online, they do it in the bush and sometimes in their house, so I decided to do it at the back of my shop. My younger ones helped me to film the whole process.
“When I made the first video with the gunshot sound, I went viral and had many comments and when people were asking if it was real, I told them it was just content.
“So the video gave me morale to do the second one. The Fulani man in the video is a regular person that brings his cows to our area and I know him, so I walked up to him and told him to join me in doing the second video, but he refused. I knelt down to beg him and he asked why I was kneeling, telling me to stand up.
“That was how we got his voice into the second video because unknown to him, my younger ones were already recording,” Kowiu added.
When asked if he was sponsored or motivated by anyone to do the video, he replied saying, a neighbor had watched the video before he posted and told him that God can help him to gain more followers, likes and become famous.
“I was happy when I gained more followers from the first video. I wanted to do more, I didn’t know the video was wrong. I had 60 followers but after it I have over 1,000 followers. I was aiming for my likes to get to 8,000 that’s why I did the second video,” he begged.
Also speaking, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, asserted that the arrest served as a warning to residents and content creators whose actions threaten the peace of the state.
“This is a warning to content creators to be cautious in what they do and avoid causing panic in the community and society in general.
“Further investigation reveals that the alleged video of banditry and kidnapping done by Mr Kowiu Oloyede was false, misleading and he confessed to the false nature of the video.
“His confession states that he did it to gain followers at the expense of the peace of residents in the state. This is a call to everyone to be very cautious in all we do. Do things within the law and do not cause panic while trying to chase clouts.”
He disclosed that the command currently has no victims in custody as all kidnappers who collected ransom have been neutralized with the ransom recovered.
“It’s worthy of note to inform the general public that Ogun state command have acted credibly against kidnapping and do not have any victim in custody. Every kidnapper that collected ransom has been neutralized and all victims rescued by the Ogun State Command under the leadership of CP Bode Ojajuni,” he stated.
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The image maker thanked the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, for his technical and overall support in helping the command achieve its mandate of protecting lives and property.