{"id":27436,"date":"2026-01-23T09:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=27436"},"modified":"2026-01-23T10:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T09:03:07","slug":"news-report-seun-okinbaloye-detained-over-controversial-interview-false","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/news-report-seun-okinbaloye-detained-over-controversial-interview-false\/","title":{"rendered":"News report Seun Okinbaloye detained over controversial interview, false"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: A Facebook user shared<\/a> a Punch report that fans are advocating for the release of Channels TV host, Seun Okinbaloye, over a controversial interview.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict: False. DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that Punch newspaper never published such an article about the Channels Television journalist. Furthermore, contrary to the report that Seun made controversial statements in an interview that warranted his arrest, details of the original interview show the \u201cPolitics Today\u201d host discussed his career growth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Channels Television host Seun Okinbaloye is renowned for his sharp, witty newsroom questions, darted at political officeholders, public officials, and private citizens, concerning national problems, often culminating in heated arguments and cold conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, a Facebook user shared a Punch<\/a> newspaper publication stating that supporters of the Politics Today host are protesting for his release, after his arrest over a controversial interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFans advocate for Seun Okinbaloye\u2019s release after controversial interview,\u201d the headline of the publication reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details of the alleged news reports stated that Seun\u2019s fans were \u201cshocked\u201d by the government’s decision to detain the journalist for \u201cleaking\u201d confidential information that could negatively impact the country\u2019s economy. Consequently, the government has decided to place him under house arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the personality involved and the sensitivity of the claim, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA noticed the report shared by the claimant was published on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. We checked Punch<\/a> newspaper for news reports published on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026,  and did not find the alleged news report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We further did a keyword search on both Seun\u2019s arrest and his supporters\u2019 protest, but did not find any credible news reports about the alleged incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news report further mentioned \u201cKEEP BOMBING TV\u201d as the programme Seun allegedly uttered controversial statements that got him detained by the government. However, when DUBAWA checked the programme<\/a> on YouTube, we noticed that contrary to the details shared in the news report, Seun only discussed his career growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the report mentioned that Seun was earning on a digital platform called \u201cPrimeAura,\u201d a discussion that was never witnessed in the original interview<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, contrary to the claim that the Channels Television correspondent has been detained, DUBAWA noticed via his Facebook<\/a> handle that he has been active at the Channels Television studio. He even posted on Jan. 22, 2026, an excerpt<\/a> of the interview he had with a member of the Northern Elders Forum, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that Punch newspaper did not publish any report about fans protesting for Seun\u2019s release. Moreover, contrary to the claim that Seun made controversial statements in an interview, the Channels Television journalist discussed only his career growth. Therefore, the claim is false. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: A Facebook user shared a Punch report that fans are advocating for the release of Channels TV host, Seun Okinbaloye, over a controversial interview. Verdict: False. DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that Punch newspaper never published such an article about the Channels Television journalist. Furthermore, contrary to the report that Seun made controversial statements in an interview that warranted his arrest, details of the original interview show the \u201cPolitics Today\u201d host discussed his career growth.\u00a0\u00a0 Full Text Channels Television host Seun Okinbaloye is renowned for his sharp, witty newsroom questions, darted at political officeholders, public officials, and private citizens, concerning national problems, often culminating in heated arguments and cold conversations. Recently, a Facebook user shared a Punch newspaper publication stating that supporters of the Politics Today host are protesting for his release, after his arrest over a controversial interview. \u201cFans advocate for Seun Okinbaloye\u2019s release after controversial interview,\u201d the headline of the publication reads. Details of the alleged news reports stated that Seun\u2019s fans were \u201cshocked\u201d by the government’s decision to detain the journalist for \u201cleaking\u201d confidential information that could negatively impact the country\u2019s economy. Consequently, the government has decided to place him under house arrest. Given the personality involved and the sensitivity of the claim, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim. Verification DUBAWA noticed the report shared by the claimant was published on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. We checked Punch newspaper for news reports published on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026,  and did not find the alleged news report.  We further did a keyword search on both Seun\u2019s arrest and his supporters\u2019 protest, but did not find any credible news reports about the alleged incident. The news report further mentioned \u201cKEEP BOMBING TV\u201d as the programme Seun allegedly uttered controversial statements that got him detained by the government. However, when DUBAWA checked the programme on YouTube, we noticed that contrary to the details shared in the news report, Seun only discussed his career growth.  Furthermore, the report mentioned that Seun was earning on a digital platform called \u201cPrimeAura,\u201d a discussion that was never witnessed in the original interview.  Meanwhile, contrary to the claim that the Channels Television correspondent has been detained, DUBAWA noticed via his Facebook handle that he has been active at the Channels Television studio. He even posted on Jan. 22, 2026, an excerpt of the interview he had with a member of the Northern Elders Forum, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. Conclusion DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that Punch newspaper did not publish any report about fans protesting for Seun\u2019s release. Moreover, contrary to the claim that Seun made controversial statements in an interview, the Channels Television journalist discussed only his career growth. Therefore, the claim is false. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[123,1571,3812,3815],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3699],"class_list":["post-27436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mainstream","category-fact-check","category-headline","category-homepage"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-78w","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3699,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"cole-praise","display_name":"Cole Praise","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7934b84f51e2c1f4c1e77cce93c223ac97cc2da29198aa9141fd944b0407bb2d?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-88.png?fit=395%2C221&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27438,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27436\/revisions\/27438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27436"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=27436"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=27436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}