Adamu Garba Zango, a lecturer at Baze University, has claimed that the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of the Kaduna State Police Command was arrested for supplying firearms to bandits and kidnappers.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Zango reiterated his claim by sharing an image alongside the allegation, stating that the officer should face capital punishment.
This post had garnered over 378,000 views and more than 9,000 interactions at press time.
https://twitter.com/DrAdamuGZango/status/1874774059172663590?s=19
The post featured an image of a man in a police uniform alongside others in plain clothes. The image bore the caption: Kaduna State Deputy Commissioner Of Police Command went to give firearms to bandits & kidnappers. Unfortunately, he was arrested with them… Wonders never end. Accompanying the image, Zango wrote: THIS MAN IS THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE: KADUNA STATE.
https://x.com/DrAdamuGZango/status/1874774059172663590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1874774059172663590%7Ctwgr%5Ee15e10b17126d64f69a6d8eb3df6baec749443fd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffij.ng%2Farticle%2Ffact-check-was-kaduna-police-deputy-commissioner-caught-supplying-ammunition-to-kidnappers%2F
https://twitter.com/DrAdamuGZango/status/1874774059172663590?s=19
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A fact-check by FIJ has revealed that Zango’s claim is misleading and constitutes misinformation.
While the image itself is authentic, FIJ found that the man depicted is not a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Kaduna. Rather, he is Kingsley Udoyem, a man arrested by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command on January 2, 2019, for impersonating an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).
At the time, Musa Kimo, the then Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Police, disclosed that Udoyem had been using the fake rank to defraud and intimidate unsuspecting members of the public. A search of Udoyem’s residence uncovered an English pistol without a magazine or ammunition, portraits of various police ranks and other incriminating items, The Punch reported.
In April 2022, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) reiterated on its official X page that Udoyem was still facing criminal prosecution for impersonation.
#PhotoNews: The suspect in Police uniform with the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, one Kingsley Udoyen, male, 56years of No. 3, Stadium Road, Abak, Akwa Ibom State (see attached picture) is a civilian impersonating to be a Police Officer and not a serving ACP. pic.twitter.com/L6AGvqTnuw
— Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) April 16, 2022
FIJ’s findings also revealed that Zango was not the first social media user to share the image of Udoyem with a misleading caption.
A reverse image search shows that similar misinformation had been circulated as far back as 2021.
For instance, in March 2021, Enugu News Daily shared the same image of Udoyem and other suspects paraded by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command in 2019. The caption falsely claimed: Assistant Commissioner of Police in Abia arrested for kidnapping.
—FIJ
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