Man arrested for faking a bandit attack to boost TikTok followers.

A young man, known only as Qawiyu from Ibaragun, has asked the Nigerian police for forgiveness after he triggered a false alarm about a bandit attack in Ogun State.

Now in police custody, Qawiyu explained that he staged the alarm in a video solely to attract social‑media followers.

He said: “I raised a fake bandits attack just to gain TikTok followers. Please forgive me. My Ileya customers’ clothes are still in my shop.”

When questioned about how he involved a Fulani herdsman in the video, the man replied, “The Fulani herdsman used to move with his cows in their area just behind his shop. I asked him to feature in the video so that I could get content. He initially refused but I insisted. I told my apprentice to do the recording. I did it because I saw people doing it to gain followers.”