I was declared dead on social media’

I was declared dead on social media’
By Ruby Leo | Publish Date: Nov 13 2015 8:59PM | Updated Date: Nov 14 2015 1:11AM
‘I was declared dead on social media’
Jonah Mndepawe Kwaghe

Jonah Mndepawe Kwaghe is a 24-year-old woman from Michika town in Adamawa State. She works with Partnership for Transforming Health System in Abuja. She revealed how she was declared dead on Facebook, but she is yet to know how her personal information was exposed. She told Daily Trust that on the 8th of October, she got a call from her mother. “I was working in Kano, I was not in Abuja and she told me that some people called her to tell her that I was among the people that died in the Hajj stampede in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.”
Kwaghe’s mother later called and  told her that the people who contacted her said that her daughter’s picture was that of the person declared dead and that the information about the deceased person included an accurate home address.
 Kwaghe insisted that it must be some mix-up, that there might be someone in the area bearing her name. “I remember that it was at the immigration office that I filled the information when I went to apply for my passport. My mum then decided to send me the person’s phone number so I would talk to them. They also said that there was a message they sent on Whatsapp asking people if they knew me or any member of my family,” she said.
 She continued: “She sent me the number of the person and it was the number of my late father’s friend, and he said when he saw the post he remembered my father’s name and he remembered our address. But he added that he was confused because he knew we are all Christians. He told me that someone in Makkah sent it to him to help trace the family. I asked him to send the person’s number to me because my passport is a new passport, it is not up to three months since I got it. When I went to apply for the e-passport, they took my picture, it was there I signed and wrote my address and my information so there is no one that has access to that information except me and their database here in Abuja. I thought it was a scam but the person used my exact picture that is on my bio-data page.”
Kwaghe also got a call from her sister’s husband in Malaysia who said he saw the same post on Facebook. He sent her a link and she was shocked at the comments ranging from ‘R.I.P’, ‘gone too soon’ and ‘such a young girl’. She told Daily Trust that she spent the whole night responding, telling the people commenting that she is alive.
 Kwaghe, distraught, says she wants an explanation because someone might be using her passport. “I just want those concerned to give me an explanation, and there are some people who still do not know that I am alive. I too am still in shock. Those concerned should please explain to me and stop the social media postings,” she said.