A prominent Nigerian journalist and publisher, Dele Momodu, has posted an aerial video that shows a large crowd protesting on a busy street to depict the ongoing August nationwide protest in Niger State.
The video, shared on Instagram on August 1, 2024, has an inscription that read thus:
“Niger Today. Niger State. No going back”.
READ: #EndBadGovernance: False claims circulate that protest has been postponed till October 1
The video has had over 100,000 plays, with almost 6,000 likes and over 150 comments as of August 3, 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows #EndBadGovernance protest in Niger State.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video is from the recent protest in Kenya held in June 2024 over the proposed tax bill.
Our fact-checker traced the source of the video posted by Momodu to a TikTok user, @cp_ontop_. The user shared the video on Thursday, August 1; it has since gone viral on the social media platform.
However, further analysis showed that the video depicts the recent protest in Kenya over the proposed tax bill. An earlier version of the video was shared here by a TikTok user, on June 20, 2024.
One of the billboards seen in the video also bears the name “Nakuru”, a city located northwest of Nairobi in Kenya.
Reports showed that residents of the city gathered in various areas to protest against the Finance Bill 2024 and the high cost of living in June 2024. Pictures taken at the actual location during the protest can be seen here.
Recall that perennial insecurity, high inflation and hike in cost of living, among other reasons, have pushed many Nigerians to the streets as part of a 10-day nationwide protest which started on Thursday, August 1 and billed to end by August 10.
Aggrieved Nigerians, who are mostly youths, took to the streets since Thursday with placards bearing different inscriptions, including “End Bad Governance” and “There is Hunger in the land,” The ICIR reported.
The ICIR also reported that the first day of the protests turned violent in some parts of the country, including Kano and Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows #EndBadGovernance protest in Niger State is MISLEADING; the video depicts Kenyans protest against finance bill in Nakuru, Kenya.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
