Nigerians were unhappy with the handling of the criminal alert by the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) on Saturday.
The FBI, via its Twitter page, sought help in its attempt to arrest six Nigerians wanted for their involvement in cybercrimes.
The FBI wrote: “Help the #FBI find six Nigerian nationals wanted for their involvement in business email compromise (BEC) schemes resulting in over $6 million in losses. Read more about each defendant at http://ow.ly/97Dk50A9Gk8, and submit tips at http://tips.fbi.gov. #FugitiveFriday.”
Help the #FBI find six Nigerian nationals wanted for their involvement in business email compromise (BEC) schemes resulting in over $6 million in losses. Read more about each defendant at https://t.co/Q1OToaIVsl, and submit tips at https://t.co/iL7sD5efWD. #FugitiveFriday pic.twitter.com/67TZPHLgHA
— FBI (@FBI) June 27, 2020
However, Nigerians were not pleased with the fact that there were other nationals on the ‘wanted list’ but were not mentioned in the headline.
Russians, Chinese, Arabians, and other nationals were on the list according to the link provided, but only Nigerians were mentioned in the headline.
However, BBC and other news platforms also followed by placing the 6 Nigerians as the poster boys over 37 Arabians, 20 Chinese and 16 Russians.
Below are some of the reactions on Twitter:
I counted 79 wanted criminals, almost 20 are Russian, about the same number are of Chinese origin (including syndicates), a sizeable number are Arabian etc. The minority black/Nigerian 6 of 79 instead made the headline. Is there a Nigerian agenda going on with the US government? https://t.co/MG0AEUQQof
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) June 27, 2020
I checked this list, there are 39 men of Arab origin, 16 Russians, 20 Chinese/Southeast Asian guys, and just 6 Nigerians.
— Mayowa (@Mayoveli) June 27, 2020
But guess who FBI chose as the poster boys for this crime? The 6 Nigerians.
What "-ism" is this? https://t.co/VSDvG8ECDS
Help the #FBI find six Nigerian nationals wanted for their involvement in business email compromise (BEC) schemes resulting in over $6 million in losses. Read more about each defendant at https://t.co/Q1OToaIVsl, and submit tips at https://t.co/iL7sD5efWD. #FugitiveFriday pic.twitter.com/67TZPHLgHA
— FBI (@FBI) June 27, 2020
You should never have to Nigerianise your headline over the criminal actions of 6 people. In that same America, for every Nigerian wanted for a crime, I'll show you 100 making America a better country to live in.
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) June 27, 2020
