The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has warned social media users to ignore any facebook account in his name, saying it is fake.
His disclaimer was contained in a statement issued last night on his behalf by his Adviser on Media and Communications, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye.
The statement said some impostors had been going around to defraud unwary members of the public with phoney offers of agricultural loans, grants and bogus or non-existent government programmes.
“The public, both in Nigeria and outside, is hereby informed and advised to disregard any facebook account attributed to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh. This message is important as it has come to the attention of the minister that some impersonators have been defrauding facebook users with the name, photographs of the minister.
He said that despite several earlier public warnings, some online impersonators have continued to open fake facebook accounts using Ogbeh’s name and photographs in desperate attempts to defraud unsuspecting people.
The statement advised those who have decided to be friends with counterfeit facebook accounts purportedly bearing Ogbeh’s name to unfriend all of them.
“An earlier statement, issued on May 3rd, 2017, to warn the public about this scam is hereby re-emphasised, that Ogbeh has no personal facebook account. Accordingly, all Facebook accounts in his name are fake.
According to Oyeneye, although many such fake accounts have earlier been shut down by facebook repeatedly on the minister’s request, more have continued to spring up.
He said the only personal social media account Ogbeh currently keeps is a verified Twitter handle: @AuduOgbeh, which can be followed through:https://twitter.com/AuduOgbeh. The official verified Twitter account of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also, @FmardNg, can be followed thus:https://twitter.com/FmardNg.
