{"id":8373,"date":"2021-06-24T15:47:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T14:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=8373"},"modified":"2021-06-25T08:28:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T07:28:38","slug":"no-president-buharis-assets-not-seized-as-misleading-headline-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/no-president-buharis-assets-not-seized-as-misleading-headline-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"NO! President Buhari\u2019s assets not seized as misleading headline suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: A news headline states that “JUST IN: AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This headline is misleading. The Buhari in question is not the Nigerian President but Mr. Abdulfatai Buhari<\/a>, a lawmaker representing Ogbomosho North in the country\u2019s senate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>Just a few weeks after Dubawa<\/a> fact checked<\/a> PM News<\/a> for publishing a misleading headline<\/a> which suggests President Buhari<\/a> was shot dead in Edo State, a news headline<\/a> also suggests that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has seized President Buhari\u2019s properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) confirmed<\/a> that it had seized the properties of a lawmaker, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari over his refusal to refund a \u20a6600m loan taken from Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). Senator Abdulfatai Buhari took the loan in his company\u2019s name, Abadat Ventures Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Politics Nigeria<\/a> and NaijaNews.Com<\/a> mischievously crafted their headlines in ways that could deceive readers to think that the \u2018Buhari\u2019 in question was the Nigerian president. Politicsnigeria.com says \u2018JUST IN: AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties\u2019 while Naijanews.com says \u2018AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Abuja Properties\u2019. The trope was duplicated on social media as the headline on Nairaland\u2019s<\/a> Politics section is also AMCON Seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Screenshot of Politics Nigeria\u2019s headline<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Screenshot of Naijanews.com\u2019s headline<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screenshot of Nairaland\u2019s headline<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

News organisations, especially those online know that headlines influence news readers to click on story links. Bloggers and news organisations, therefore,  sometimes act unprofessionally by baiting readers with misleading headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, Franktalknow.com<\/a> shared a link on WhatsApp which states \u2018JUST IN: AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties\u2019 but the headline changes to \u2018JUST IN: AMCON seizes Senator Buhari\u2019s Properties\u2019<\/a> after readers click the story link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of WhatsApp broadcast by Franktalknow<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some news audiences actually fell for the bait on Nairaland and assumed the \u2018Buhari\u2019 in question was the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of a reader\u2019s comment<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is impressive to note that some other media organisations were more ethical in their reportage of the issue. RipplesNigeria<\/a>, The Punch<\/a> and Newspack<\/a> all referred to the lawmaker as \u2018Senator Buhari\u2019 in their headlines to avoid ambiguities while The Cable<\/a> did not use the name \u2018Buhari\u2019 at all but simply used this headline \u2018N600m debt\u2019: AMCON takes over Oyo senator\u2019s properties in Abuja\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers have found<\/a> that a good number of media audiences just read the headlines and do not bother about reading the full story. So, using misleading headlines (to generate clicks) could help spread misinformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: A news headline states that “JUST IN: AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties“ This headline is misleading. The Buhari in question is not the Nigerian President but Mr. Abdulfatai Buhari, a lawmaker representing Ogbomosho North in the country\u2019s senate. Full Text Just a few weeks after Dubawa fact checked PM News for publishing a misleading headline which suggests President Buhari was shot dead in Edo State, a news headline also suggests that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has seized President Buhari\u2019s properties. On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) confirmed that it had seized the properties of a lawmaker, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari over his refusal to refund a \u20a6600m loan taken from Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). Senator Abdulfatai Buhari took the loan in his company\u2019s name, Abadat Ventures Limited. However, Politics Nigeria and NaijaNews.Com mischievously crafted their headlines in ways that could deceive readers to think that the \u2018Buhari\u2019 in question was the Nigerian president. Politicsnigeria.com says \u2018JUST IN: AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties\u2019 while Naijanews.com says \u2018AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Abuja Properties\u2019. The trope was duplicated on social media as the headline on Nairaland\u2019s Politics section is also AMCON Seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties. Screenshot of Politics Nigeria\u2019s headline Screenshot of Naijanews.com\u2019s headline Screenshot of Nairaland\u2019s headline News organisations, especially those online know that headlines influence news readers to click on story links. Bloggers and news organisations, therefore,  sometimes act unprofessionally by baiting readers with misleading headlines. For instance, Franktalknow.com shared a link on WhatsApp which states \u2018JUST IN: AMCON seizes Buhari\u2019s Properties\u2019 but the headline changes to \u2018JUST IN: AMCON seizes Senator Buhari\u2019s Properties\u2019 after readers click the story link. Some news audiences actually fell for the bait on Nairaland and assumed the \u2018Buhari\u2019 in question was the President. It is impressive to note that some other media organisations were more ethical in their reportage of the issue. RipplesNigeria, The Punch and Newspack all referred to the lawmaker as \u2018Senator Buhari\u2019 in their headlines to avoid ambiguities while The Cable did not use the name \u2018Buhari\u2019 at all but simply used this headline \u2018N600m debt\u2019: AMCON takes over Oyo senator\u2019s properties in Abuja\u2019. Conclusion Researchers have found that a good number of media audiences just read the headlines and do not bother about reading the full story. So, using misleading headlines (to generate clicks) could help spread misinformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8376,"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":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_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":[1571,4],"tags":[2023,2022,347,201,2024],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[1898],"class_list":["post-8373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-featured","tag-abdulfatai-buhari","tag-asset-management-corporation-of-nigeria-amcon","tag-featured","tag-muhammadu-buhari","tag-ogbomosho-north"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-2b3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1898,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"ganiyat-tijani-adenle","display_name":"Ganiyat Tijani-Adenle","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5a768b91ca5cd4b622db3e3775213b1af0345d750fa2435b7e3290d557be4ac?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\/2021\/06\/AMCON.jpg?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8373","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=8373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8373"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=8373"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=8373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}