Hafsat Abubakar, 27, arrested over the alleged circulation of a forged notice claiming OPay was shutting down, says she deleted the post and apologised after the fintech company declared it false.
Abubakar spoke on Thursday, September 10, 2026, after she was paraded at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
She said OPay contacted her on August 31 and gave her until 11:59pm to remove the post and apologise. She said she deleted it at about 8pm and apologised before 11pm.
Abubakar said she was arrested at her Zaria, Kaduna State, residence on September 4, five days later.
She said police told her OPay had petitioned the force and that she was taken to Abuja for investigation.
The disputed notice, circulated on August 31, purportedly announced that OPay would suspend transactions and account-related services indefinitely from September 1.
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OPay rejected the claim and urged customers to rely on its verified platforms for official information.
On September 2, the company said the police and Department of State Services were investigating the source and circulation of the message, adding that it had commenced legal action against those involved.
Following OPay’s petition, the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre launched a digital forensic investigation.
Force Public Relations Officer, Anietie Iniedu, said investigators traced the publication to the X account @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, linked to Abubakar, leading to her arrest on September 4.
Abubakar maintained that she did not know the information was false when she posted it and urged Nigerians to verify information before publishing or resharing content online.
Police said the investigation was continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the document’s creation and circulation and determine whether others were involved.