Massive Readership: The Story Of Baba Suwe’s P.M.NEWS Story

Shortly after 2.27 p.m. on Thursday 13 October, a huge number of readers began to log on to www.pmnewsnigeria.com for a breaking news published on P.M.NEWS portal.

Nollywood comic actor, Baba Suwe, had been arrested a night before by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on suspicion that he had swallowed substances suspected to be hard drugs detected by the United States-donated scanning machine, known as Soter RS.

The 53-year old ace comedian was on his way to Paris, France, and about to board an Air France flight when he was held at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.

Not long after the breaking news was published on P.M.NEWS website, hundreds of readers began sharing the story on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Hundreds of others used other online platforms.

In the end, 11400 links of the P.M.NEWS story were shared online with over 10,000 of them on Facebook alone. At least 570 comments about the story were recorded.

Thousands of websites changed P.M.NEWS’ headline which was “Baba Suwe Arrested At Airport”. Many others used their own kickers.

A website said in its headline: “Heart Breaking Breaking News: Baba Suwe Arrested At Airport”. Another headlined its story this way: “Surprise: Nollywood Actor Arrested For Drug Trafficking”. There were many versions this report on Baba Suwe’s story will not be able to contain.

From the minute it was published first on www.pmnewsnigeria.com, the story went viral with many other newspapers in Nigeria and abroad republishing it, sometimes, adding or subtracting only few lines.

The story went global in minutes with the power of social network sites. Nigerians in the United Kingdom and the United States called relatives for details and updates.

The online readership was in addition to overwhelming the huge attention the story attracted on the streets of Lagos.

For a week now, the story has been subject of discussions online. Nigerians in offices, campus, homes or public places are discussing it, with many for or against the actor’s travails.

Even before the end of the drug saga, the story of P.M.NEWS about Baba Suwe is already a story in itself.

—Simon Ateba