By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
The management of THISDAY Newspapers Limited, publishers of THISDAY titles, has alerted the members of the Nigerian public and the security agencies of the existence of a counterfeit version of the daily brand of its Friday, August 27, 2021 edition.
The cloned copy, according to THISDAY, surfaced on social media on Saturday, August 28, 2021. The newspaper however denied any involvement in the publication of the fake copy and called on the security agencies to investigate the source of the fake version.
THISDAY management in a statement, same Saturday, through its Managing Director, Eniola Bello, said its attention "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.
"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 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 fallen 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", the statement said. NNL.
