Police Arrest X User Over Viral OPay Shutdown Hoax

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested an X user, Hafsat, over a viral publication falsely claiming that digital payment platform OPay would shut down its operations and suspend all transactions indefinitely.

The Force spokesman, Ani Iniedu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday, saying Hafsat was arrested on September 4 following a digital forensic investigation and online tracing operation launched to identify the source of the publication.

The hoax, which circulated widely across social media, claimed that OPay would shut down on September 1 and stop processing transactions indefinitely. It also urged customers to withdraw their funds immediately to avoid possible inconvenience.

OPay subsequently dismissed the claim as false and threatened legal action against the author of the publication.

According to Iniedu, police investigators traced the post to Hafsat through the X handle @haifah_er_abba. He said preliminary findings showed that the suspect subsequently shared the publication through another X account, @CUTE_HAFSERH, where she tagged social media influencers and accompanied the post with the warning: “REMOVE YOUR MONEY NOW.”

The police spokesman said the suspect claimed during questioning that she obtained the purported notice from a WhatsApp status before publishing it on X.

The post reportedly attracted about 572,000 views within minutes, significantly increasing the reach of the false information and potentially capable of causing panic among customers.

The police said the investigation is continuing, with authorities expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the publication and determine whether other individuals were involved in its circulation.

The development underscores the growing use of digital forensic tools by law enforcement agencies to trace the origin of viral social media content and hold individuals accountable for publications considered false or capable of causing public alarm.