IN SHORT: A message circulating on Facebook claims that the former chief justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, has been arrested in the United States. The claim is false.
Several Facebook posts claim that the former chief justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola has been arrested in the United States.
The posts refer to Ariwoola as the judge that declared Bola Tinubu as the winner of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, and claim that US president Donald Trump ordered his arrest.
The posts include three images, of Ariwoola, Trump and a plane taking off from an airport.
The same claim appears here, here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
Ariwoola was appointed the chief justice of Nigeria in June 2022. He was in office during the 2023 general elections. However, he was not one of the five judges who looked at the petitions from the presidential election and declared that Tinubu was duly elected.
But has Ariwoola been arrested in the US? We checked.
Ariwoola was in Abuja, not in the US, on day in question
The claim began to circulate two days after the Body of Benchers' first annual lecture in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on 26 March 2025. Ariwoola, who is the vice president of the body, was at that event.
The Body of Benchers is a professional body responsible for the formal call to the bar and for disciplining lawyers in Nigeria.
Ariwoola was photographed among officials of the body who presented an award to the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on 28 March, the same day the claim began to circulate on Facebook.
The Facebook posts also erroneously refer to Ariwoola as the chief justice of Nigeria. He retired in August 2024. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun replaced him as the chief justice in September.
Such a high-profile arrest would either be because of a diplomatic row between two countries – or lead to one. It would also be covered by the media. The fact that no credible media platform in the US or Nigeria has reported such an arrest is a red flag.
False claims typically provide little or no detail. Like this one, they lack specific details of where and when the incident is supposed to have occurred.
And in this case, there is no information on the charges against Ariwoola for which he was supposedly arrested. Such a lack of detail is usually a clue that the story is inaccurate or made up.
There is no evidence that Ariwoola was arrested in the US. The claim is false.
The same claim was found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
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