A viral post where Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, allegedly said he would never construct any railway in the south-east until the Igbo ethnic group embraces one Nigeria has resurfaced online.
The post claimed Amaechi allegedly said he would rather use the fund for a railway construction to the south-east to help almajiris in the north.
“I will never construct any railway in south-east until the Igbos reject BIAFRA and embrace one NIGERIA!” the post read.
“Instead of constructing any railway, I will use the money to help almajiri in the north.”
The post had surfaced on social media in 2020 and was widely circulated. A Twitter user, Elvis Chinedu @ElvisChunedu12, had shared the post (now deleted) on his timeline, which generated a lot of reactions. It has, however, started spreading again in Facebook groups and blogs, claiming the minister made the statement.
On Friday, Godson Nwigwe shared the post on his Facebook account with the caption, “Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, just ask yourself this questions. What is the full meanings of Chibuike Amaechi? What language are they from and who gave them to you. Amaechi, you didn’t say that OK, but if you did said so, Igbos will and see all you return to the dust by which you were created.”
On Saturday, the post was shared on “Ndigbo News Backup”, a Facebook page with over 20,000 followers, asking people to keep sharing the content and ensure that it gets to 10 Facebook groups. Some commenters had reacted to the post and condemned the minister for making such a statement.
The post has been reshared 977 times, with over 469 comments and 331 likes.
IT’S FAKE NEWS
The viral post did not indicate when and where Amaechi allegedly uttered the statement. The alleged statement was not reported by any credible news media.
In addition, the minister also debunked the post via his Twitter account in 2020, describing it as “fake”.
Fake 👎🏾 https://t.co/djPRbe418D
— Chibuike R. Amaechi (@ChibuikeAmaechi) July 21, 2020
VERDICT: The statement credited to the minister of transportation is false.
