A video has been spreading across multiple social media platforms with a claim that it shows protesters of #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria chasing ‘soldiers’ away with stones in Kaduna State, northwestern Nigeria.
In the 57 seconds footage, some security operatives could be seen hopping into their truck as a large mob of protesters pursued them. Though, a shield that fell on the ground had an inscription of “Police” written on it.
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An X user, @EmmaMillelJnr, posted the video on August 6, 2024 with a caption thus:
“Soldiers on the run as protesters pursue them with stones in Kaduna. Truth be told, Nigeria has the most civil soldiers globally. The way some people are behaving as if they have two lives is scary”.
“#EndBadGovernancelnNigeria”
The post has garnered over 250,000 views alongside over 1,100 comments, more than 1,300 likes and over 800 reposts as of August 7, 2024.
Another X user, @ElitesAfrica, also posted the same video with another caption that read:
“Police on the run as protesters chase the with stones in Kaduna…” (sic)
It has also gone viral with over 360,000 views, more than 1,500 reposts and over 2,300 likes as of August 7, 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows protesters stoning ‘soldiers’ in Kaduna, Nigeria.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video is from the anti-finance bill protests held in Kenya earlier on July 16 – about 2 weeks before the Nigerian protests kicked off.
This fact-checker subjected screenshots taken from the video to a Google Reverse Image search; the results show earlier versions of the video which has been online since July 16, 2024.
An X user, @Gideon_Kitheka, posted the video on July 16, 2024, noting that the incident happened in Emali Town, in Kenya.
A day after, another X user, @CaptainDominicO posted the same video with a caption that read: ”Police officers were chased like dogs yesterday, Kenyans are tired 😫”.
The video trended around July 16-17 especially on X (formerly Twitter) as multiple X users posted the video amidst the finance bill protests widely known by the hashtag #RejectFinanceBill2024 in Kenya.
ALSO READ: Video does NOT show Kenyan lawmakers hiding in the bush
Further checks show that a YouTube channel posted the same video on July 17, 2024, noting that the incident happened in Kenya.
It was captioned: “Kenya: Polisi Yawakimbia Waandamanaji”. Using Google Translate, it revealed that the texts is in Swahili language, meaning: “KENYA: Police are fleeing protesters” when translated into English.
When our fact-checker carefully examined the video, he observed that the Nigerian security operatives do not dress like the ones seen in the video.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows protesters stoning ‘soldiers’ in Kaduna, Nigeria is MISLEADING; the video emanated from Kenya during the finance bill protests that engulfed the East African country around July 2024 and not related to the Nigerian protests.
