Ex-Presidential Aide Appeals to OPay Over Arrest of Woman

A former presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, has appealed to OPay Digital Services Limited to reconsider the arrest and continued detention of Haifa Abubakar, who was detained over a viral social media post falsely claiming that the fintech company had shut down its operations.

Ahmad made the appeal in a post on X on Thursday, saying Abubakar had admitted her mistake and, based on his understanding, complied with OPay’s demands to delete the post and issue an apology.

The former aide acknowledged that Abubakar’s publication was wrong but questioned the need for her arrest after she allegedly complied with the corrective measures requested by the company.

According to him, OPay initially asked Abubakar to take down the post and apologise within a specified period, which she reportedly did.

“We all know that what Haifa did was wrong and virtually nobody supported her actions. However, I have questions about what happened afterwards,” Ahmad said.

He added that he would have viewed the matter differently if Abubakar had refused to delete the post or apologise after being directed to do so.

“But if she did exactly what OPay requested, then I believe there are legitimate questions about why her arrest was still necessary, especially if the decision was influenced by calls from social media users demanding her arrest,” he said.

Ahmad described Abubakar as a young woman and student who made a mistake, acknowledged it and subsequently complied with the corrective steps allegedly requested by OPay.

He therefore urged the fintech company to review the matter and consider releasing her.

“If that is indeed the case, I believe keeping her in custody serves little useful purpose,” he said.

The former presidential aide also stressed that condemning Abubakar’s action should not amount to condemning her as a person, arguing that accountability could coexist with compassion when an individual accepts responsibility for wrongdoing.

“We can condemn what Haifa did without condemning her as a person. We can hold people accountable for their mistakes while still showing compassion, especially when they have acknowledged the wrongdoing and complied with the remedy requested of them,” he said.

Ahmad appealed to OPay to release Abubakar and allow the incident to serve as a lesson rather than derail the student’s future.

“OPay, please reconsider this matter. We appeal to you to have Haifa released and allow this incident to end with a lesson learned rather than a young student’s life being unnecessarily derailed,” he added.

The appeal followed the arrest of Abubakar by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) over the circulation of a fake notice purportedly announcing the shutdown of OPay’s operations.

The ECONOMIC TIMES had reported that the NPF-NCCC arrested Abubakar on September 4, 2026, after its operatives traced the false notice to an X account linked to her.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, said the police commenced digital forensic analysis and online tracing after the fake notice began circulating online.

The investigation, according to the police, traced the publication to the X handle @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, which was linked to Abubakar.

She was subsequently arrested by operatives of the NPF-NCCC as investigations into the circumstances surrounding the publication and dissemination of the false notice continued.