FCT, Abuja – There has been a claim that President Bola Tinubu has begun the move to commence the deportation of 700 United States citizens living in Nigeria and also banned phones made in the US in the country. This was made in a screenshot of an x user going around on Nigerian social media.
According to the post, Tinubu’s action was a response to President Donald Trump’s tough stance on migrants in the US.
The tweet in the screenshot was posted on January 25, 2025, by a user Celebrity Blogger. However, it appeared that the post has been deleted but the screenshot has continued to gain traction and be shared on social media.
See the post here:
How many executive orders Trump has signed?
Recall that the US President Trump has signed several executive orders since his inauguration on January 20, these included mass deportation of migrants. In the US, an executive order is a legislative tool that empowers the president to legally back orders to the federal government.
According to African Check, a fact-checking organisation, a document from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has shown that more than 1.4 million immigrants, including 3,690 Nigerians, have been scheduled for deportation from the US.
The ICE is the US agency that is responsible for enforcing the federal laws that govern customs, immigration, border control and trade.
However, African Check has fact-checked the claim-making round on social media that President Tinubu had in turn begun the deportation process of some US citizens.
No evidence Tinubu is deporting US citizens
According to Africa Check, the claim that Tinubu was deporting 700 US citizens or banning the use of phones made in the US was not reported by any credible source. Such a report would have caught media attention globally.
A major red flag is the fact that the X account that initially made the claim did not provide any credible source.
On February 17, the federal government announced that 201 Nigerians were in the US immigration camps and that 85 of them had been cleared to be deported.
Nigerian government arrested 40 illegal migrants
The following day, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) announced the arrest of 40 illegal migrants in Oyo state. The arrested foreigners included 27 Cameroonians, 1o Beninoise, two Ghanaians and One Togolese.
The federal government has never made any comment on US citizens staying in the country illegally and there is no evidence that supports the claim that Tinubu has ordered a ban on US-made phones in Nigeria.
Trump didn’t order release of Charles Taylor
A Facebook user identified as Junior Duo posted on FRIES FM, claiming that one of the orders included the release of the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor.
Due to its virality and sensitivity, the claim was fact-checked to set the record straight.
