False claim circulates that ferry service debuts from Onitsha to Lagos

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A claim that a ferry service now commutes passengers from Onitsha to Lagos for a fare of ₦7,000 has gone viral online.

The claim was accompanied by a one-minute, 17-second video. In the footage, the cameraman appears to be touring what seems to be a water transport facility, with passengers seated in an orderly manner.

At one point in the video, he opens a door, briefly revealing an exterior view showing water waves, suggesting that the facility might be a vessel or ferry on a body of water. There were inaudible mutterings in the video also.

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The claim has circulated on multiple social media platforms such as WhatsApp, X, Threads and Instagram.

The caption shared alongside the video via WhatsApp read:

Onitsha to Lagos by ferry ₦7k per seat… interesting times ahead!
Lagos to PHC, Uyo, loading…

Marine & Blue Economy

Screenshot of an appearance of the claim in a closed WhatsApp group chat
Screenshot of an appearance of the claim in a closed WhatsApp group chat

Similarly, an X user, @Onsogbu, posted the same video with similar caption. The X post has garnered over 14,000 views, with more than 200 likes, 50 comments and over 100 reposts as of January 26, 2025.

 

CLAIM

Video shows passengers in a ferry commuting from Onitsha to Lagos.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE!

Screenshot of an appearance of the claim from Instagram; Insert FALSE verdict
Screenshot of the claim retrieved from Instagram. Insert: FALSE verdict.

Upon reviewing the video, our fact-checker observed that it has TikTok’s watermark, along with the username “@Terrypernell1,” indicating that the video was originally published on TikTok.

A search for the username on TikTok directed us to the user’s profile, where the video was found among the user’s recently posted content.

The clip was the exact video being circulated on multiple social media platforms. It was posted by the user, @Terrypernell1, on January 10, 2025. The caption on the TikTok post read thus:

This is the ferry I took coming back to the mainland from Zanzibar.

A look at the profile shows that the TikTok user creates travel contents across Africa.

Our fact-checker observed that ferry is a common means of transportation in Tanzania and Zanzibar.

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A keyword search for “Onitsha to Lagos by Ferry” revealed multiple instances of the claim online. The search results also included information on the estimated travel time to the destination via Google Maps and the cost of road transportation for the same trip.

THE VERDICT

The claim that the video shows passengers in a ferry commuting from Onitsha to Lagos is FALSE; the video was shot on a ferry between Zanzibar and Tanzania.

Fact-checker at The FactheckHub | [email protected] |  + posts

Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].

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