Abuja Bombing: Police Search For Twitter Forecaster
Three days after the multiple bomb blast in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the search for the true identity of one Chima Okoro, who predicted the attack via twitter, continues online.
Tweeting through @chimaokoro63, the true identity of the alleged forecaster is yet to be unveiled. Though the unknown tweeter added that Lagos would be bombed.
Twenty persons reportedly lost their lives while 41 others sustained serious injuries in the twin attacks that hit Nyanya and Kuje, on the outskirts of the nation’s capital, on Friday.
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The account was taken down when Internet users raised the alarm over the prediction. Yet, controversy over his tweet has continued.
As of Sunday afternoon, a twist emerged in the controversy. A tweeter, posting on @AbdulMahmud1, claimed that he had unveiled the said Okoro on Facebook. The profile name on the Twitter page, posted an MTN number, which he claimed was on Okoro’s Facebook page.
Abdul Mahmud tweeted on Sunday, “@Chimaokoro63 appears to have left a clue to his “real” identity. His Facebook account has a mobile telephone number that is revealing. A few minutes after I ran the check, Truecaller sent me an email, with the content, ‘Hi, someone used Truecaller to search your name and phone number.’
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“Could it have been coincidental that someone I ran check on also ran a check on me? It is getting mysterious and sinister. Our security and intelligence agencies have their works cut out. When terrorists make mistakes, they get burst.”
Okoro, in the morning of October 1, had tweeted, “I pray for Nigeria: There will be a bomb blast in Abuja and Lagos, Boko Haram is going to attack and kill police, army& Navy their evils (sic).”
The Twitter account had on its profile a photograph of a dark-complexion young man relaxing in a room while holding up a mobile phone.
Since then, Okoro’s Twitter account has being taken down, leading to another round of controversy.
Internet users are calling on security experts to use clues left on the Internet to trace the identity of the suspected bombing forecaster.
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While many Nigerian Internet users still get away with their criminal activities, tech experts have noted that Internet Protocol could be of immense help in tracing cybercriminals.
