A Facebook page called “Cafe Pedacito de Cielo“, meaning ‘Little Piece of Heaven Café’ in English, is spreading disinformation about Nigerian journalist Seun Okinbaloye, a presenter with Channels TV.

When FIJ first saw the sponsored post created on September 26 on the platform, it had only 5,000 reactions. However, by Tuesday morning, the engagement on the page had increased to 6,600 likes, 865 comments and 144 shares. This post was made live on the platform at 4:49 pm.

The caption of the post reads “Sad end of Seun Okinbaloye! What did he say in this disastrous interview?” The post went ahead to use an interface similar to that of Punch Newspapers, a popular Nigerian newspaper, to depict that the news item was from them.

The banner of the misleading post reads, “Seun Okinbaloye did not know that the microphone was on, and we are saying goodbye to him forever.” While the subheadline reads, “This is a sad day for the whole of Nigeria.”

READ ALSO: REVEALED: Edo Policeman ‘Raped’ 17-Year-Old. Female Cop Edith Eduma Demanded N1m Hush Money

A CONSTANTLY EDITED ARTICLE

The first sign of irregularity in the article is the domain on which the article is published after anyone clicks on it. The URL of the article is one “xpertaffil.com” despite carrying the banner of The Punch.

A screenshot of the page taken on Monday showed that the article had the headline ‘Fans advocate for Seun Okinbaloye release after controversial interview’ with the byline of one John Abban.

FIJ also observed that the headline of the article changes daily. While they revolve around the same personality, they have different things to say about him.

The first screenshot of the post FIJ took on Wednesday said the journalist was biding the microphone goodbye. The one taken on Monday said that his fans were advocating his release and the one taken on Tuesday claimed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was suing for some comments he made.

All these are different from what was published by The Punch Newspaper on each day whose screenshots were taken. By Tuesday, the byline had changed to ‘Gov Uzodimma’. FIJ can’t establish if it is connected to Hope Odidika Uzodinma, the governor of Imo State.

The body of the article shows the author inviting readers to click a link purported to be provided by Okinbaloye and that they should check it out as the article might soon be deleted. They claimed they had a copy of the interview after they persuaded the director of the CBN to release it to them.

“Fortunately, we were able to persuade the director of the ‘With Chude’ programme to give us a copy of the recording of this program. If you’ve had a chance to read this article, keep in mind that it may soon be deleted, as has happened with broadcasting. So if you’ve had a chance to read this article, you should instead check out the link provided to us by Seun Okinbaloye himself,” the article reads.

Further down the post, the body of the article shows an exchange between Okinbaloye and Abdul Abiola and not Chude as initially stated. Meanwhile, Abiola’s full name is Abdul Mumuni Abiola, son of the Late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (M.K.O), who won the June 12, 1993 elections.

FIJ found that there was an actual interview between the duo published by Mic On Podcast on YouTube in June. The conversation in the podcast was nothing about making money as the article portrayed but an insight into Abiola’s background.

Further down the page, a hyperlink SpectraX lured readers to click the link if they wanted to read the full report. However, the link is deceiving as it leads readers to a signup page of a trading platform.

READ ALSO: REVEALED: IPPIS Payroll Validation, FG Workers’ Personal Data on OAGF Website Have Been Hijacked

UNUSUAL COMMENTS

Another eye-catching thing about the article is the comments under it. Most of them seemed bot-like rather than what could have been written by actual users. They were generic and pandered to a direction. One of them described Okinbaloye who is well-known as a male journalist as ‘she’.

“Seun Okinbaloye is a good person and does her job well. Respect,” a guest writer is said to have written on the article.

Other comments highlighted how impressive the deal was, a deviation from the subject of the article.

A major difference FIJ also noted is that none of the comments seen on Monday were on the website by Tuesday. The comments found on the site were replaced with new ones and they also deviated from the subject of the interview which is about Okinblaoye being sued by the CBN.

They all talked about earning money from the platform. All the profiles also led nowhere.

READ ALSO: REVEALED: In May, Power Ministry Paid Over N160m to One-Month-Old Companies for Projects

THE PEOPLE BEHIND CAFE PEDACITO CIELO

FIJ’s checks revealed several inconsistencies with Café Pedacito de Cielo. The page, created on May 21, 2020, promotes only coffee on the front.

Its Instagram page, pedacitodecielo_mexico, also describes it in Spanish as a coffee shop with a speciality coffee sales and 100% Coatepec Coffee.

Further details also revealed that according to the information on the page, the people who manage it are domiciled in Ukraine even though the coffee shop they promote is in Coatepec Region, Veracruz, Mexico.

“Specialty Coffee Sale, High-Altitude from the Coatepec Region, Veracruz, Mexico. We hold certificates with cupping scores of over 81 points from Q Graders,” more details about the advertiser reads in English.

According to the Facebook Ad Library based on its ad transparency policy, the advertisement started to run on September 18, six days before the post seen by FIJ was created.

It also revealed that the ad is being sponsored across three other social media platforms aside from Facebook. These platforms are Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Facebook Audience Network, a network of third-party apps and websites that show ads to their users.

It also showed that there are five different versions of the same ad running concurrently.

However, contrary to Meta’s policy of making transparent details of the targeted audience of the ad, FIJ found nothing about the target audience of the posts.

When FIJ further checked WhoIs, a public database, that archives information on domain registration, for more details on xpertaffil.com, it showed that the website was registered on April 14, 2023, and was recently updated on June 1.

It also showed that it was registered in Ontario, Canada.

Other important information such as the registrant name, city, state etc. that could lead to the identity of the people behind the page has been removed.

FIJ found nothing on Punch’s website about the publication on the said date. A report by Africa Check also revealed that the picture of Okinbaloye in the image used by those behind Cafe Pedacito de Cielo was photoshopped. The original one depicts Interpol after it arrested Aminu Ogwuche, a Nigerian suspect, who was arrested in connection with a bomb blast.