Newly elected French President, Emmanuel Macron, 82 Chibok girls release, Mercy Aigbe, Banky W were among stories that Nigerians searched on Google from May 4 to May 10.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa made this known in a statement in Lagos on Thursday.
He said that in the week under review, terms ranging from the French President, 82 Chibok girls release, Pastor Ajidara’s death, Mercy Aigbe, Banky W and Oba of Lagos trended on Google Nigeria search.
According to him, the final results of the French presidential elections were announced on May 7 with Emmanuel Macron winning with 65.8 per cent votes against Marine Le Pen, with just 34.2 per cent.
“Many Nigerians went into Google Search to search for ‘france election results’, ‘centrist’, ’emmanuel macron wife age’, ‘new french president’, and ‘french president’.
“Moreso, the Boko Haram release of 82 Chibok girls flooded Google search.
“Eighty-two Chibok school girls have been released following successful negotiations between the military group, Boko Haram and the Nigerian government, President Buhari’s office said over the weekend.
“Nigerians searched Google for ’82 chibok girls’, ’82 chibok girls released’, ’82 chibok girls release’, ‘release of chibok girls’, and ‘chibok girls news’,” he said.
Kola-Ogunlade said that also trended on Google search was the death of Pastor Ajidara, which angered his fans.
He said that the Nollywood fans reacted angrily over the death of another popular actor, Samuel Adesanya, aka Pastor Ajidara, describing his colleagues as greedy and selfish for not supporting him after he fell ill.
The Google manager said that his fans had said that he could not afford medical treatment, which led to his death.
According to him, some fans also advised Nollywood stars to get health insurance, so they will not have to beg when they fall ill.
“Ajidara, 62, died of kidney failure this past weekend. The sad news was announced on social media by Mr Latin, with a picture of Ajidara in his sick bed which he captioned, ”and the man died few minutes ago”.
“Fans searched for: ‘pastor ajidara is dead’, ‘pastor ajidara dead’, ‘ajidara biography’, and ‘ajidara death’,” he said.
Kola-Ogunlade said that the estranged husband of Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe, Lanre Gentry appearing in court on May 5, 2017 also flooded Google search.
He said that this followed a case of physical assault brought against Gentry, by the Lagos State Department of Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team.
Kola-Ogunlade recalled that a fight between the couple allegedly led to Aigbe bleeding, and eventually reported the matter to seek assistance.
“Nigerians searched for: ‘is mercy aigbe dead’, ‘mercy aigbe wedding pictures’, ‘who is mercy aigbe’, ‘what happened to mercy aigbe’, and ‘mercy aigbe husband’.
“Also trended on Google was R&B singer, Banky W, announcing his engagement to actress Adesua Etomi on his Instagram page on May 3.
“He revealed that they had been dating for a while before he finally proposed to Adesua in February, this year.
“People searched Google for a variety of terms including, ‘how old is banky w’, ‘banky w and adesua etomi’, and ‘bank w’,” he said.
The Google manager said that a fire which broke at a section of the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu trended on Google search.
He said that it was rumoured to have been caused by a malfunction in an air conditioner in the palace around 1.30pm.
Kola-Ogunlade recalled that Fire Service officials arrived at the scene at 1.50pm and stopped the fire from spreading further.
“Some people are suspecting foul play, following the recent incident of Oba of Lagos refusing to shake hands with Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, by the hand at an event in Lagos.
“People Googled for terms such as ‘Oba of Lagos palace on fire’, ‘oba of lagos snubs ooni of ife’, and ‘oni of ife and oba of lagos,” he said.