After the firepower unleashed to dislodge bandits in Sokoto State, Northern Nigeria from their base, I decided to seek the views of former Nigerian military president, Ibrahim Babangida on X, formerly called Twitter. The views in that post seemed slightly undiplomatic and everything sounded more like street talk with a few ungrammatical outbursts. My suspicions thickened.

So I asked @grok the AI assistant if that was genuinely the verified X account of the retired general and elder statesman.


Here’s the response:


“No, General Ibrahim Babangida does not have a verified X account. According to multiple fact-checks and statements from his office, he has no social media presence.



Accounts claiming to be him, like General_Ibbro, are parodies”.



And here are some of the tweets from the parody account that Gen Babangida probably doesn’t even know about.



“Islam has always been a religion of peace in Nigeria during our military administration. However, we must stop tolerating notorious hooligans & fake self-proclaimed clerics like ***, who are damaging the image of Islam in northern Nigeria & disrupting our nation’s peace”.












“The era of negotiations & pampering of terrorists is over. I expect every state governor, along with all state security chiefs & military commanders, to launch a full-scale war against terrorism. We must not provide terrorists or any violent groups a chance to survive in Nigeria”.


@General_Ibbro






“While the bandits are pleading for surrender, we must not accept their plea until every one of them is neutralized and eliminated. Afterward, I expect the military to invite negotiators and sympathizers for comprehensive questioning”.




Furthermore, the parody account went on to “commend Gen Christopher Musa for his commendable work since his appointment. While I understand that the bandits are seeking dialogue and are willing to surrender, we must not engage in any negotiations. Instead, we should send them to their creators to negotiate with”.







“No bandits, No Terrorists, No Terrorists Negotiators or Terrorists sympathizers should be spared for disrupting the peace of Nigerians. If I was (were) the President, that would be my message to the Nigerian military and states (State) governors. We can go band for band, we are not negotiating!”




In this age of artificial intelligence, the onus of checking posts beyond the surface is urgent and necessary. Don’t believe everything you read or hear. Check for authenticity first.

Greg Abolo.