On Tuesday, some blogs published a news item which claimed that the police arrested six Nigerians for selling fuel at the Black Market in the United Kingdom (UK).
The UK is currently battling with petrol shortage crisis as a result of scarcity of tanker drivers. This has led to panic buying and long queues at fuel stations.
According to the viral post, the Nigerians purportedly based in the UK were said to have hoarded fuel and sold it above market prices in order to make huge gains.
The post went viral and was circulated on social media platforms, while some Nigerians condemned the act.
“Following the fuel scarcity in the United Kingdom, about six Nigerians have been arrested for hoarding Fuel in Jerry cans and selling at an outrageous prices,” the post read.
“According to the UK police spokesman Greg Smith, some of the Nigerians arrested include Kenneth Obiora (M), chukwuma Ahamba (M), Gift Nwankwo (F), Kelechi Amadi (M), Afamefula Nkemdiri (M), and Ernest Okoye (M).
“According UK police spokesman, they will be charged to court on offence bothering on conspiracy to cause scarcity of petroleum products in the united kingdom. More details & Pictures loading.”
UK Police Arrest Six Nigerians For Selling Black Market Fuel https://t.co/lwP2eIz2IA
— freshgist9ja (@freshgist9ja1) September 29, 2021
UK Police Arrest Six Nigerians For Selling Black Market Fuel https://t.co/lYGK0w1P3D
— Equitynews (@EquityNewsNg) September 29, 2021
UK Police Arrest 6 Nigerians For Selling Black Market Fuel https://t.co/tQq2eabck3
— YGist Ng (@YgistNG) September 29, 2021
BUT IS THIS TRUE?
According to findings by TheCable, the posts didn’t state where the incident happened in the UK and there were no pictures to back up the story.
In addition, such information appeared mainly in Nigerian-based blogs; it was not published in any UK-based news media. Also, it didn’t appear on any police website in the country.
The viral post also quoted one “Greg Smith” as spokesperson of the UK police. Results from online searches show that the name does not appear as a spokesperson for any of the UK police services. Meanwhile, the UK runs regional police services. The online result overwhelmingly show “Greg Smith” as a UK member of parliament for the Buckingham constituency.
An online search of the names of the people arrested also showed random profiles of persons with similar names, none connected to the alleged incident.
VERDICT: There is no sufficient evidence to show that six Nigerians were arrested by UK police for selling fuel at the black market. The post is misleading.
