FIJ
On Tuesday morning, a report from The Nation claimed a court in the United States acquitted Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace Limited.
Onyema is facing obstruction of justice charges in Georgia. The US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, said on Friday they were investigating Onyema for “submitting false documents to the government in an effort to end an investigation of him that resulted in earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering”.
The attorney’s statement drew mixed reactions from Nigerians. The Nation’s report went public four days later, and several people responded positively to the news.
CLAIM: US court acquits Air Peace boss, slams Mayfield $4,000 fine.
This report did not state when the court ‘acquitted’ Onyema or fined Ebony Mayfield, a former Springfield Aviation Company staff member.
VERIFICATION: To ascertain if there was an acquittal for Onyema over his recent legal battles, FIJ checked the Tuesday report for dates of court appearances and arguments, but found none.
FIJ also found a report The Guardian published on October 30, 2022. This report, two years older than the recent one, contains materials identical to Tuesday’s report, including a statement Augustine Alegeh & Co. issued. According to both reports, the law firm spoke on behalf of the airline.
The Guardian’s report claimed the court made the decision on Friday, October 28, two days before the publication, and like the platform, several other newspapers and blogs went with the same narrative.
This, FIJ found, was different from what happened in court.
A Premium Times report published on October 31, 2022, detailed how the court convicted Mayfield and sentenced her to three years of probation after she pleaded guilty to helping the airline perpetrate a $20 million bank fraud.
The court did not acquit Onyema, as the Friday statement claimed.
As of Tuesday afternoon, FIJ’s checks revealed The Nation still had the misleading report on its website.
CONCLUSION: Available evidence confirms Tuesday’s report was a regurgitation of a misleading October 28, 2022, court hearing. The report was false in 2022 and is false in 2024.
VERDICT: False.
