Ogun tailor arrested for posting fake bandit video, says he wanted to be famous like Peller.

The 25‑year‑old fashion designer Kowiu Oloyede was taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command after he posted a viral video that falsely claimed bandits had invaded Atan in Ado‑Odo/Ota. Oloyede said he created the clips in an attempt to go viral, citing the popular Nigerian streamer Habeeb Hamzat, known as Peller, as an inspiration.

On Monday, the suspect, a resident of Sokoto Road in Atan‑Ota, uploaded a TikTok video to his page “Nice Boy.” The clip shows him hiding in a bush with gunshot sounds in the background and a caption that read, “Bandit is in Atan, help us ooo.” He was wearing a white singlet and black shorts and appeared panicked along with two others, all claiming they had not seen their mother.

On Wednesday, he posted a second video in which he was kneeling next to another person, claiming they had been kidnapped and pleading for mercy from a herdsman. He deleted this video the following day.

The videos reportedly increased his follower count from 60 to 1,345,000.

Following the posts, Ogun State police operatives arrested Oloyede on Saturday. In an interview with DAILY POST on Monday, the suspect explained that his goal was to gain more followers on TikTok.

“I was in my shop and I just noticed that people were using the gunshots sound on TikTok to make videos and were gaining followers so I decided to do the same,” he said. “I felt that’s where Peller started from to become famous. I didn’t know it would put me into trouble. Many people use the sound online, they do it in the bush and sometimes in their house, so I decided to do it at the back of my shop. My younger ones helped me to film the whole process.”

“When I made the first video with the gunshot sound, I went viral and had many comments and when people were asking if it was real, I told them it was just content. So the video gave me morale to do the second one. The Fulani man in the video is a regular person that brings his cows to our area and I know him, so I walked up to him and told him to join me in doing the second video, but he refused. I knelt down to beg him and he asked why I was kneeling, telling me to stand up.”

“That was how we got his voice into the second video because unknown to him, my younger ones were already recording,” Oloyede added.

When asked if he was sponsored or motivated by anyone to create the video, he said a neighbor had watched the video before he posted it and told him that God could help him gain more followers, likes and become famous.

“I was happy when I gained more followers from the first video. I wanted to do more, I didn’t know the video was wrong. I had 60 followers but after it I have over 1,000 followers. I was aiming for my likes to get to 8,000 that’s why I did the second video,” he begged.

DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, the Police Public Relations Officer, stated that the arrest serves as a warning to residents and content creators whose actions threaten the peace of the state.

“This is a warning to content creators to be cautious in what they do and avoid causing panic in the community and society in general. Further investigation reveals that the alleged video of banditry and kidnapping done by Mr Kowiu Oloyede was false, misleading and he confessed to the false nature of the video. His confession states that he did it to gain followers at the expense of the peace of residents in the state. This is a call to everyone to be very cautious in all we do. Do things within the law and do not cause panic while trying to chase clouts.”

He disclosed that the command currently has no victims in custody as all kidnappers who collected ransom have been neutralized with the ransom recovered.

“It’s worthy of note to inform the general public that Ogun state command have acted credibly against kidnapping and do not have any victim in custody. Every kidnapper that collected ransom has been neutralized and all victims rescued by the Ogun State Command under the leadership of CP Bode Ojajuni,” he stated.

The image maker thanked the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, for his technical and overall support in helping the command achieve its mandate of protecting lives and property.