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Claim: Charles Oputa, a Nigerian musician, shared a CAC registration certificate belonging to a Fulani vigilante group.
Verdict: Findings showed that the group in question has no record on the CAC database. Moreover, the viral certificate was manipulated to push a false narrative.
Full Text
Nigerian singer Charles Oputa, famously known as Charly Boy, recently put up a post on his X handle with claims that the “NOMAD VIGILANTE NIGERIA LTD,” a Fulani vigilante organisation, is now registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). He attached a CAC certificate alongside the caption that reads:
“Can U imagine? IT’S NOW OFFICIAL – The Fulani “National” Vigilante Organisation! Now, INSURGENTS CAN have wings! IPOB was proscribed as a Terror Org. Sunday, IGBOHO & friends were imprisoned. BUT, GUN CARRYING, Kidnap & Terror Organisation was REGISTERED!! We Neva Ceeee shomtin!!”
In Jan. 2024, Miyetti Allah, national leader of the Fulani group, formed a nomad vigilante group to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies, particularly in Nasarawa state. This event did not go without raising concerns and opposition from members of the public. Even though DUBAWA could not independently confirm if Mr Oputa was referring to this group, his claim has since been widely shared on Facebook as found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The growing engagements drawn by the post warranted this fact check.
Verification
We took the company name and registration number from the CAC certificate, believing it was genuine. However, a quick separate search on the CAC website using these two entities yielded no results. This indicated that the organisation in question is not registered with the CAC.
Both the company name and registration number were absent from the CAC database.
Following this discovery, we analysed the photo using Invid, an image verification tool. Results concurrently flagged the “company registration number” and “company name” as altered, confirming that this certificate was manipulated to drive a false narrative.
Conclusion
Our findings showed that the “NOMAD VIGILANTE NIGERIA LTD” is not documented in the CAC database. Additionally, the circulated certificate was doctored to propagate a false narrative.
