On January 2, 2025, an X user, @DrAdamuGZango, made a claim, stating that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Kaduna state was using his position to supply firearms to bandits and kidnappers.
The X user shared a screenshot which had the picture of a man wearing a police uniform in frame with inscription “Kaduna State Deputy Commissioner Of Police Command, went to give Firearms to Bandits & Kidnappers, unfortunately, he was arrested with them… Wonders Never End,” this was posted with the caption, ‘THIS MAN IS THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE: KADUNA STATE.’
The post generated over 777,000 views, over 1,100 comments, 5,000 retweets, 12,000 likes, and 872 bookmarks as of the time this report was published.
VERIFICATION
NV-A’s investigation revealed that the image has been online since 2019.
A similar image with the man in police uniform surfaced on March 12, 2021, posted by an X user, @SDiaso that an Assistant Commissioner of Police was arrested for kidnapping. This post alleged police involvement in arming criminals, tagging the official @PoliceNG X handle.
Also, this is not the first time the claim has surfaced online with the same picture. Between April and September 2021, the claim that a Kaduna based police officer was arrested for giving firearms to kidnappers was posted on Facebook, here, here, and here.
The claim about the police involvement in criminal activities was debunked by the Kaduna state command’s Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Jalige.
Through reverse search, we traced the image to a 2019 incident reported by News Platform, a microblogging site. According to their report, the individual in the viral image was identified as Kingsley Udoyen, a police impersonator.
Udoyen was arrested for impersonating a police officer. Though he claimed to have been dismissed from the police force in 2006 while serving in Lagos State, investigations revealed he was never an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) nor had he ever held any rank within the force which he also confused to.
He admitted to using a fake uniform and ranks procured by a serving policewoman, who was also arrested. The Akwa Ibom State Police Command, under Commissioner Musa Kimo, paraded Udoyen at their headquarters in Uyo, where it was disclosed that he used his fabricated ACP status to defraud and intimidate the public.
Other platforms, including Linda Ikeji’s Blog and ACK City Daily Information Portal, corroborated the details and debunked similar claims about the Kaduna DCP as misleading in 2019.
CONCLUSION
The claim that a “Kaduna State Deputy Commissioner of Police” was arrested for providing firearms to bandits and kidnappers is FALSE. The individual identified in the viral image is a police impersonator who was arrested in 2019 in Akwa Ibom State, not Kaduna.
