Sunday, April 5, 2026
13 C
New York

#BBCtrending: The mysterious case of Wendell Simlin

Mar. 30, 2014

A team of online sleuths claim to have exposed an attempt to smear the former governor of Nigeria’s central bank.

Lamido Sanusi – who is widely respected in the international community – was suspended from the bank last month after accusing the government of corruption.

A few days later, a number of journalists were surprised to receive an email from an unknown man, Wendell Simlin, which linked Sanusi with the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The group is believed to have killed thousands of people in a string of brutal attacks since 2009. But a handful of digital activists who obtained the email say it was actually written by one of the president’s aides, after they found his name in a Word document attached. Reno Omokri – social media advisor to President Goodluck Jonathan – is listed as its author in the document properties.

“We just did a simple right click on the document and looked at the ‘properties’,” says Feyi Fawehinmi, one of the team who carried out the investigation. They also contacted a newspaper to cross reference the email with previous messages sent from Omokri himself, and the metadata seems to be a perfect match, they say.

It is possible that the accusations are part of an elaborate attempt to frame Omokri. Carlo De Micheli, an independent security expert, says the evidence can’t be taken as concrete proof – but points out that it would be a bizarre strategy for Sanusi’s supporters to falsify documents incriminating him, and subsequently try to clear his name. BBC Trending has contacted Omokri about the allegations, but he has not responded. He is due to appear as a speaker at a new media conference in Lagos on Friday, and local journalists are keen to press him on the matter.

Sanusi was suspended from the bank by the president after alleging that $20bn (£12bn) in revenue had gone missing from the state oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Reporting by Sam Judah

Comments

comments

Related Posts:

Comments

comments

RESCUED: Vice President, Namadi Sambo And Senator Ndume’s Relationship With Boko Haram

#WendellSimlin: After FRCN Fails, Jonathan Gets SSS To Accuse Sanusi Of Sponsoring Boko Haram In Court

Justice Adeniyi Ademola Says There Was “No Division in PDP,” Sacks PDP-APC Reps from House

PROTESTS: Jonathan’s “Diehard” Supporters in Niger Delta Protest For Diezani, Moro Sack


  • Obas j

    very funny. and u think this ur foolishness will prove sanusi innocent

very funny. and u think this ur foolishness will prove sanusi innocent

Most Popular

Unprecedented: Hegseth Fires Army Chief and Senior Generals as They Resist Ground Invasion of Iran

Defense Secretary Hegseth has fired the Army’s top general and two others amid plans for a ground invasion of Iran. Senior officers reacted with anger as the most significant wartime military purge in modern history accelerates.

Democracy Kills, Says Burkina Faso’s Traoré — As Sahel Nations Reject Western Model That Failed to Stop Jihadists

Captain Ibrahim Traoré has declared that democracy as practiced in Africa has done nothing but kill. Speaking at a national forum, the 36-year-old leader rejected the Western democratic model outright.

India Quietly Building Parallel Trade With China AND Russia as Western Media Insists Moscow Is Isolated

Simultaneously, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister met with Prime Minister Modi to discuss energy and fertilizer cooperation. India is locking in Russian supplies as the Iran war disru...

Myanmar’s Coup General Formally Elected President by His Own Military Parliament — Democracy Officially Dead

Al Jazeera and the BBC covered the story. Fox News did not. RT did not. ZeroHedge did not. PressTV did not. CNN was not prominent on it. The formal death of democracy in a country ...

Vance Campaigns for Orbán Days Before Hungary Election — The Kind of Election Interference the US Sanctions Others For

Fox News covered the visit as routine alliance management. The missing context is significant....

Recent

Unprecedented: Hegseth Fires Army Chief and Senior Generals as They Resist Ground Invasion of Iran

Defense Secretary Hegseth has fired the Army’s top general and two others amid plans for a ground invasion of Iran. Senior officers reacted with anger as the most significant wartime military purge in modern history accelerates.

Democracy Kills, Says Burkina Faso’s Traoré — As Sahel Nations Reject Western Model That Failed to Stop Jihadists

Captain Ibrahim Traoré has declared that democracy as practiced in Africa has done nothing but kill. Speaking at a national forum, the 36-year-old leader rejected the Western democratic model outright.

India Quietly Building Parallel Trade With China AND Russia as Western Media Insists Moscow Is Isolated

Simultaneously, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister met with Prime Minister Modi to discuss energy and fertilizer cooperation. India is locking in Russian supplies as the Iran war disru...

Myanmar’s Coup General Formally Elected President by His Own Military Parliament — Democracy Officially Dead

Al Jazeera and the BBC covered the story. Fox News did not. RT did not. ZeroHedge did not. PressTV did not. CNN was not prominent on it. The formal death of democracy in a country ...

Vance Campaigns for Orbán Days Before Hungary Election — The Kind of Election Interference the US Sanctions Others For

Fox News covered the visit as routine alliance management. The missing context is significant....

Germany Admits Nuclear Phase-Out Was a Huge Mistake as Iran War Drives 60% Gas Price Surge

This is Europe’s second major energy crisis in five years. The first was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This one is triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupting t...

Pentagon Intelligence Says Only Half of Iran’s Weapons Destroyed — White House Claims 90% Success Rate

The White House and Defense Secretary Hegseth claim a 90 percent reduction in Iran’s long-range launch capability. US intelligence agencies, according to a CNN report cited by mult...

Trump Fires AG Bondi Over Epstein Failure — Then Installs His Own Criminal Defense Lawyer as Acting AG

Both are true. And the full picture is worse than either version suggests....
spot_img

Related Articles

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Popular Categories

spot_img
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x