A Facebook user, Cruzyfresh Comedy, has posted a video alongside a caption that says a certain type of canned fish should not be consumed by Nigerians alleging that it has killed a family in Nnewi, Anambra state.
The one minute, twenty-two seconds video has detailed how the family allegedly consume Anny Sardine which eventually caused their death.
The woman-narrator in the footage said: “ Anywhere you see this particular sardine, be careful. You all should know the kind of things you consume. You all see how a father, mother and children all died at once because they bought this sardine in the night and ate.”
“Please share this video. Share it if you like your sister, your brother, mother and father. Share it so it wouldn’t look like I did not warn you,” she said at the end of the video clip.
The same claim was also posted by another Facebook user, JB funny comedy, alongside a footage that showed a man, woman, and some children lying dead in a room as passers-by mourned.
The narrator in the video said: “Good morning my viewers all over the world. It is very very urgent. Wherever you see this particular Sardine, please do not go near it. Don’t buy it,” as the photo of the canned fish popped up on the screen.
The man goes on to say that so many families have been wiped away, because they bought and ate that particular sardine he was talking about.
“Please help me share this video. If you do not share it you are a wicked soul. Make sure you share it to save the lives of many people. Anywhere you see this sardine please do not go near it,” he reiterated.
Multiple Facebook users also shared the same video with similar narration as seen here, here, here, here, here and here.
CLAIM
A family of four died after consuming Anny Sardine.
THE FINDINGS
Checks show that the claim is FALSE.
When the footage was subjected to Google Image search, no result was found.
But using InVid, a video verification tool to scrutinize the footage, it led us to some YouTube Videos, where some of its visuals had appeared before then.
The first video sighted was that of a news broadcast by TVC News which was published on October 18, 2021. In the news report, a family of four was reported to have died allegedly from food poisoning in Enugu state, and not from Anny Sardine.
The family who died in Enugu were said to have eaten corn flour with Oha soup, and died, leaving a 9 months old baby who did not eat the food.
The same Enugu incident was also reported earlier on October 15, 2021 by Arise News.
Further checks using keywords search on Google search engine revealed that multiple reports have been published on the Enugu incident as seen here and here. However, none of the reports mentioned Anny Sardine as the cause of the death.
THE VERDICT
The claim that a family of four died after consuming Anny Sardine is FALSE. The footage was from a 2021 incident involving a family of four who died from food poisoning and unrelated to the consumption of any canned fish.
* This fact-check was written by Rejoice Taddy, a fellow of the ICIR’s Countering Misinformation and Promoting Media Literacy project, supported by the German Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.
