The Friday, August 27, 2021 copy of THISDAY newspapers circulating online has been identified to be fake by its publishers.
The management of THISDAY, who on Saturday, disowned the fake digital copy of its Friday publication, warned the public to ignored the handiwork of the fake news merchants.
According to the management of THISDAY Newspaper, it said the fake digital copy of its Friday publication was doctored with some misrepresentation on its front page against Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State.
Making this known via a statement on Saturday, the Managing Director (MD) of THISDAY, Eniola Bello, said, the doctored publication with the headline: “Shocking: Uzodinma declares Free Marriage Between Fulani Settlers and Imo Ladies” circulated on social media platforms is fake news.
Bello said, at no time did THISDAY published the said story.
She informed that, the lead story of the newspaper on Friday, August 27 was, “Buhari Elated as NNPC Breaks Jinx, Declares N287bn Profit, First in 44 Years.”
The THISDAY statement read: “The attention of the Management of THISDAY has been drawn to a fake version of our digital edition making the rounds on some social media platforms.
“With the headline: “Shocking: Uzodinma declares Free Marriage Between Fulani Settlers and Imo Ladies”, this fake version of our digital edition is being circulated on WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media platforms.
ALSO READ: Nigeria’s 5.01% GDP growth in Q2 2021 laudable — Economists
“We wish to state that THISDAY at no time published the said story. Our lead story on Friday, August 27 was, “Buhari Elated as NNPC Breaks Jinx, Declares N287bn Profit, First in 44 Years”.
“Sadly, these merchants of fake news have chosen to leverage on the credibility and integrity of THISDAY to ply their trade.
“We completely reject this poor attempt by some unscrupulous people at impersonating our brand and identity in pursuit of whatever agenda they may have, by seeking to disseminate fake news to members of the public as emanating from THISDAY.
“For the avoidance of doubt, readers can easily verify our Friday publication from the print edition, or online (www.thisdaylive.com). We therefore call on members of the public who may have unwittingly fell for the cloned digital copy to disregard it and treat it with the utmost contempt it deserves.
“We also use this opportunity to call on security agencies to help unmask the counterfeiters behind this forgery and bring them to book.”
