A false report has been circulating on social media claiming that the US military has bombed Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, in an attempt to capture President Bola Tinubu. The report, which emerged on January 4, alleged that the US launched an “intense operation” on Aso Rock, the official residence and office of the Nigerian president, amid drug allegations.
However, there is no evidence to support this claim. A thorough search of local and international media outlets found no reports of a US airstrike on Abuja. This is in contrast to the recent US military attack on Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on charges of drug trafficking and possession of machine guns.
President Tinubu has been associated with drug trafficking in the US due to a 1993 incident in which he forfeited $460,000, allegedly proceeds of heroin distribution in Chicago. However, he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been prosecuted or convicted of any drug charges.
An investigation into the claim found that President Tinubu was not even in Abuja at the time the report emerged. On January 4, he posted on his official social media account that he was in Paris, France, where he had a private lunch with Rwandan President Paul Kagame to discuss global affairs and Africa’s advancement.
The lack of media coverage and the fact that President Tinubu was not in Abuja at the time of the alleged attack suggest that the report is entirely false. The US military’s actions in Venezuela were widely reported, and it is likely that a similar operation in Abuja would have received significant attention from local and international media.
In the absence of any evidence to support the claim, it appears that the report is a work of fiction with no basis in fact. The spread of false information can have serious consequences, and it is essential to verify information through reputable sources before sharing it. In this case, the claim that the US military bombed Abuja in an attempt to capture President Tinubu is entirely unfounded and should be dismissed as false.
