Hacker threatens TheCable over report on Betta Edu’s suspension

A hacker posing as Charles Francis has threatened TheCable for suspending Betta Edu as Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

THE REPORT

President Bola Tinubu suspended Edu on January 8 over alleged financial irregularities in the ministry.

Before her suspension, Edu was under fire after a memo surfaced asking Oluwatoyin Madein, the chief accountant of the association, to transfer the sum of 585 million naira to a private account.

The instruction to disburse the funds was contained in a leaked letter dated December 20, 2023.

Edu had said that the payment order had been made properly, although the association’s general accountant said She did not comply with the minister’s request because no large amounts of money “may be transferred to a private account in the name of a project accountant.”

Edu also had approved the payment of the flight price for employees to Kogi, although the state, located in the central north, does not have a single airport.

Following her suspension, Tinubu ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct “a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transaction” involving the humanitarian ministry.

The President also instructed a panel chaired by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, to “conduct, among other things, a comprehensive diagnosis of the financial architecture and the framework of social investment programmes with a view to bringing about a definitive reform of the institutions and programmes concerned”.

THE THREAT

In an email, Francis threatened TheCable over the report on Edu’s suspension.

The hacker, who claims to be a security analyst at NewTechnic, a subsidiary of HackerOne, demanded that TheCable delete the article or face a $50 million lawsuit.

“The offending article will be removed from your platform and all related publications,” the email said.

“An immediate and unconditional retraction and public apology to Dr. Betta Edu for the false and defamatory content published. This retraction and apology must have the same meaning as the original article.

“If you do not comply with these demands within 48 hours of receiving this letter, we will have no choice but to take legal action to seek redress for the harmful falsehoods published and to seek $50 million in fines and penalties for the damages caused.”