As insecurity grips Nigeria, Ogun State is battling a dangerous new frontier of terror, one manufactured not by bandits in the bushes, but by content creators behind smartphone screens.
Across the state, a deluge of social media content, fabricated WhatsApp voice notes, and recycled videos are weaponizing public anxiety and fueling panic.
In this report, Gift Oba exposes how the desperate chase for digital clout is disrupting public peace, mimicking national trauma, and landing its perpetrators in handcuffs.
The Tailor Who Stitched Terror
On Monday, May 18, 2026, 25-year-old Kowiu Oloyede woke up as just an ordinary tailor trying to make a living in the Atan area of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area. By noon, however, he had stitched together a fabric of terror that threw an entire state, and the nation into panic.
Armed with nothing but a smartphone and a wild imagination, Oloyede manufactured a fake video claiming that armed bandits had invaded his community.
He posted the clip on his TikTok page, “Nice Boy,” showing himself in a bush with gunshot sounds playing in the background. The caption on the video reads: “Bandit is in Atan, help us ooo.” Within seconds, the video went viral.
What Oloyede thought was a harmless internet prank quickly transformed into a public safety nightmare. Driven by a desperate thirst for digital validation, the primary school certificate holder who had previously struggled with low visibility and a mere 60 followers suddenly watched his metrics skyrocket to over 291,000 views, 1,429 followers, and 10,600
