How Mirabel's Fake Rape Story will Setback every Survivor Who comes after her

Mirabel

Abigail Nsuka, a young TikToker, popularly known as Mirabel, posted a video on a Monday morning recounting what she described as a harrowing rape in her apartment. She had been shoved, knocked unconscious, gagged and violated by an intruder while her neighbors were at church. She said the attacker had even inserted a blade into her body. The video was raw, emotional, and utterly convincing.

Within hours, it had been viewed over seven million times. Prominent artists and influencers amplified her story. Advocacy groups pledged their support. Government agencies in Lagos and Ogun states promised to pursue justice. Thousands of ordinary Nigerians opened their wallets, one influencer alone transferred one hundred thousand naira and by some estimates she collected between 1 million naira and 5 million naira in donations before the week was out.

How the Story Unraveled

It didn’t take long before cracks appeared. Observant netizens noticed that the threatening messages Mirabel claimed her rapist had sent her read suspiciously like her own writing style. A neighbour contradicted her claim of a suicide attempt.

A YouTuber alleged the whole story had been fabricated to raise money for rent.

Then came the audio, a recorded conversation with influencer Very Dark Man in which Mirabel admitted to making the entire thing up. She had created a separate TikTok account to play the role of her fictional attacker and send herself threatening messages. The injuries, she suggested, may have come from self-harm during a panic attack.

Mirabel is now in police custody in Ogun State.

The Real Victims of This Story

This story has victims beyond the people who lost money. Every genuine survivor of sexual violence in Nigeria and there are countless of them, most of whom never speak out, has been handed a heavier burden to carry.

The Lagos State Domestic Violence Response Team warned plainly that false claims erode public trust and make it harder for real survivors to be believed. Project Alert on Violence Against Women founder Josephine Effah-Chukwuma was more direct, calling the actions reckless and demanding prosecution.

Nigeria already struggles with how it treats rape survivors. Police response is often poor. Cases drag through courts for years. Against that backdrop, a high-profile false allegation does immense damage. It hands ammunition to those already looking for reasons not to believe women, and raises the psychological cost for real survivors weighing whether to come forward.

Under Section 59 of the Criminal Code Act, giving false information to police carries up to three years in prison. Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015 is potentially more directly applicable; knowingly transmitting false information via social media that causes public disturbance or harm carries a three-year prison term, a 7 million naira fine, or both. Legal experts have confirmed that prosecution is a viable path.

The question is not whether she can be prosecuted. It is whether she will be, and whether that prosecution will serve as a genuine deterrent.

What This Moment Demands

Justice for the donors who were defrauded. Clear legal consequences that signal false allegations carry a real price. A renewed, louder commitment to believing and supporting the genuine survivors who are watching all of this and asking themselves whether it is worth it to speak.

Because the real risk of this episode is not that Nigerians will grow cynical about social media scams. It is that the next woman who has actually been raped will hesitate a moment longer before pressing record and that hesitation will cost her.

The answer to Mirabel is not distrust. It is accountability, discernment, and a refusal to let one bad actor define the entire conversation.

Justice requires truth. but it also requires that we not let the absence of truth in one case become an excuse to demand proof in every case.

The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed Mirabel is in custody. No formal charges had been announced at the time of writing.