IN SHORT: After a video of a man disrupting air travel went viral in Nigeria, rumours spread that the man, Obiajulu Uja, was married to a popular TV presenter, Obiajulu Ugboh. But there is no connection between the two, apart from the coincidence of their first names.
A post circulating on Facebook in Nigeria claims TV presenter Obiajulu Ugboh is married to a man evacuated from a flight before take-off, for protesting against the inauguration of Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu.
The post includes a photo of Ugboh and reads: “APC bursted!! The aeroplane hijacker's wife works with TVC … She is Lilian Obiajulu on Facebook … She bears Obiajulu Ugboh on air as a TVC Staff ... TINUBU'S TVC.”
Obiajulu Uja, a passenger on Ibom-Air, was evacuated from an Abuja-Lagos flight on 31 March 2023 after he disrupted the flight, shouting that Tinubu should not be sworn-in as the country’s president on 29 May.
Obiajulu Ugboh is a life coach and co-host of the programme Your View on TVC, a national TV station.
Bola Tinubu, who was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election on 1 March, is a promoter and financial investor in TVC. His victory is still being challenged in court by opposition parties.
The Facebook posts suggest that the TVC presenter is Uja’s wife and that he might have created a scene on behalf of the ruling All Progressives Congress, or APC.
The claim was posted on Facebook here, here, here, here, here and here.
But is Ugboh married to Uja? We checked.
‘I am not in anyway connected remotely to the said man,’ Ugboh said
On 2 March Ugboh took to Instagram to react to a screenshot of the claim. She said the protester was not her husband.
“My husband was never on Ibom Air neither is he politically inclined or accosted in anyway!” Ugboh said. “I am not in anyway connected remotely to the said man.”
While the two share a first name, there is no evidence that Ugboh is married to the man removed from the Abuja-Lagos flight.
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