Claim: Various news reports claim that a first-class Business Administration graduate of the University of Ibadan was beaten to death for stealing bread in Bayelsa State.
Verdict: MISLEADING. Our findings show that the deceased, Opuofoni Ebimotimi, is not a graduate of the University of Ibadan.
Full Text
In the early hours of July 11, 2023, news broke that a first-class Business Administration graduate of the University of Ibadan, Opuofoni Ebimotimi, was beaten to death by a mob in Bayelsa State for allegedly stealing bread.
The narrative has gone viral and shared here, and here. Several blogs and conventional media platforms, including Sahara Reporters and Oyo Affairs, also reported the news.
The virality of the claim and the reactions of students of the University of Ibadan prompted us to investigate the matter.
Verification
To verify, DUBAWA’s reporter visited the University of Ibadan website to view the institution’s offered courses. The check revealed that the University of Ibadan does not offer Business Administration as claimed by the report.
The only management course offered at the University at the undergraduate level is Economics. Before 2020, it was a department under the Faculty of Social Sciences, but this changed after the National Universities Commission (NUC) granted the request of the University to establish a faculty of Economics and Management Sciences. The new faculty is to run the following degree programs: Economics, Accounting, Banking and Finance, and Marketing, but at the moment, Economics is the only ongoing degree program in the faculty.
This raised our suspicions, so we researched to verify if the victim graduated from any department at the University of Ibadan.
His Facebook profile revealed that the deceased, contrary to the viral report, graduated from Lead City University (LCU), a private university in Ibadan. It also shows that he was admitted in 2012 and graduated in 2016.
We also went through his network on Facebook and messaged a friend, Gbeinbo Don-living, and a sibling of the deceased, Opofuoni Freeborn Idisemi. While the sibling did not respond, Gbeinbo Don-living responded.
He explained that they both graduated from Lead City University, not the University of Ibadan, as several reports claimed.
“He graduated from Lead City University. [We are from the] same community and graduated together. Most reporters are publishing wrong information,” Mr Don-living told us.
A keyword search on the incident led to a news report by Leadership Newspaper, confirming the incident happened and the Bayelsa State Police Force has commenced an investigation on the matter.
Conclusion
Our findings show that the deceased, Opuofoni Ebimotimi, graduated from Lead City University, not the University of Ibadan. The viral report is, therefore, misleading.
