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How we used ‘violent video’ to blackmail Buhari in 2015 – Witness

Published

9 years ago

April 5, 2018

Christopher Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytical employee and whistleblower, had revealed how certain video was distributed in Nigeria with the sole intent of blackmailing Buhari and also to influence the 2015 presidential election.

In a testimony at the House of Parliament, Wylie said Cambridge Analytica directed Aggregate (AIQ), the Canadian digital services firm that worked for Vote Leave during Britain’s EU referendum, to target voters with the video during the presidential campaign.

Giving testimony, he said: “Cambridge Analytica sent Aggregate IQ the video after they [CA] got banned from several online ad networks because the graphic nature of the content violated the terms of service. AIQ was quite freaked out about it. It’s a very disturbing video. They told Cambridge Analytica that. They called it ‘the murder video’.”

“Coming to Nigeria on February 15th 2015,” the voiceover says in the manner of a trailer for a Hollywood movie. “Dark. Scary. And very uncertain. Sharia for all.”

It poses the question: “What would Nigeria look like if sharia were imposed by Buhari?” It suggests he would strike a deal with the Islamist militant group Boko Haram that would be “a pact with the devil”. The video also suggests “Buhari will punish all who speak against the regime” and that “women will be veiled”. It ends by saying: “You can stop this movie becoming real.”

In the video, graphically violent images were used to portray President Muhammadu Buhari, then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a supporter of Sharia law who would brutally suppress dissenters and negotiate with extremist groups.

Cambridge Analytica was reportedly hired by a Nigerian billionaire to run a campaign in support of former President Goodluck Jonathan.