A young man identified simply as Qawiyu has admitted raising a false alarm about a bandits attack in Ogun State, claiming he only wanted to gain followers on TikTok.
The suspect, who is currently in police custody, made the confession in a video circulating on social media.
Qawiyu appealed for forgiveness, stating that he fabricated the incident in a bid to attract attention and increase engagement on his TikTok account.
He also lamented that clothes belonging to customers for the Ileya celebration were still in his shop following his arrest.
Speaking further, the suspect explained that the Fulani herdsman featured in the viral video usually passed through the area with his cattle behind his shop.
He said he approached the herdsman and persuaded him to appear in the video as part of the staged content.
According to him, the herdsman initially declined the request but later agreed after repeated persuasion.
Qawiyu added that his apprentice handled the recording of the video, noting that he was influenced by similar social media contents created by others to gain followers online.
He said “I raised a fake bandits attack just to gain TikTok followers. Please forgive me. My Ileya customers’ clothes are still in my shop.
“The Fulani herdsman used to move with his cows in their area just behind his shop. I asked him to feature in the video so that I could get content. He initially refused but I insisted. I told my apprentice to do the recording. I did it because I saw people doing it to gain followers.”