On Wednesday, Lauretta Onochie, a former special assistant to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on social media, posted an image on X, claiming it was Amaka Sonnberger in the hands of the police in Canada.

Sonnberger, a Nigerian resident in Canada, caused a stir on social media on August 25 when she publicly urged her audience to poison her fellow Nigerians of Yoruba and Benin descent at their workplaces.

Nigerians quickly identified her and called for her immediate arrest. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) and the House of Representatives wrote to Canadian law enforcement to investigate the matter.

Within days, the Toronto Police arrested Sonnberger and stated that the matter fell within the remit of hate-motivated crimes.

“The Toronto Police Service is making the public aware of an arrest made in a suspected hate-motivated threatening investigation. On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, Toronto Police received a call for a threatening incident,” the police wrote.

“It is alleged that: the accused posted online content on or about August 25, 2024, threatening death to specific members of the Nigerian community.”

Sonnberger appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice on September 2nd for uttering threats.

CLAIM: The woman below is Amaka Sonnberger who was arrested by the police in Canada.

Along with the image, the social media-savvy politician wrote, “You don’t open your mouth anyhow in a society where the police knows(Sic) their job and work without interference. Amaka (Sonnberger) will now explain to the police her devious plans to poison innocent Nigerians. She went too far with her #Obidiocy.”

Shortly after Onochie’s post, several X accounts started circulating the same image with the same narrative in a manner that suggested Onochie’s tweet, which attracted over 446,000 views, may have gained some kind of credibility.

Find some other posts with the same narrative that the said woman in a black and white gown and a red jacket is Sonnberger here, here and here.

VERIFICATION: There is a stark dissonance between the facial look of the woman in Onochie’s tweet and that of pictures of Sonnberger, which are publicly available.

On August 28, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chairman of NiDCOM, revealed Sonnberger’s image via her X handle.

“This is the picture of the lady behind the voice. Amaka Patience Sunnberger. She has deleted her TikTok account and a group of Nigerians in Canada are reporting her officially to the relevant authorities in Canada. Thanks for alerting everyone,” Dabiri-Erewa posted.

Internet investigation by FIJ confirmed that the woman in Onochie’s tweet was Nikema Williams, a Georgia lawmaker in the United States. She had joined voters in protesting at the Capitol on November 13, 2018, during a governorship election before the police arrested her.

CONCLUSION: Onochie’s claim that Sonnberger was the woman in her post is misleading.

VERDICT: The claim that the woman in Onochie’s Wednesday post is false.