Mr Bernard Adeleye, referred to as Nigerian Boeing trainee reported to be among the victims of the ill-fated Jan. 8 Ukrainian plane crash in Iran, says he is still alive.

Adeleye, who is the Commander, Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps, Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye Local Development Area Command, made the clarification at a news conference with his lawyer, Mr Femi Martins, on Wednesday in Lagos.

He told newsmen that his picture was wrongly used by some media depicting that he was the Nigerian that died in the Ukraine plane crash.

According to him, “I am not dead; in fact, I have never travelled to Ukraine before.

“I have never travelled by air before let alone travelling to Ukraine. So, why will someone use my picture and claim that I was the Nigerian that died in the Ukraine plane crash?

“The picture that was used in the publications was the same picture that I used on my Instagram page in 2018, and this was the exact outfit I am putting on now. This has really affected me as I now wear face cap to cover my face because whenever I am walking on the road, people called me ‘dead man walking’,” he said.

He also advised bloggers and media outfits saddled with the task of disseminating information to ensure due diligence by verifying stories at their disposal before publishing such news.

Also, Martins said that the alleged plane crash victim wore the same shirt on the picture used to confirm that he was the person referred to in the fake news published.