A claim is circulating on social media that the government is giving students and business owners who are within the 13 to 65 age bracket N150,000 to N550,000 grant.
This it says the government is doing under a supposed National Youth Empowerment Fund (NYEF). It called on interested applicants to fill an online application.
This claim which has been shared repeatedly on WhatsApp and other platforms reads: (SIC) “The National Youth Empowerment Funds is vision into giving out N150,000 to N550,000 grant to every citizen under the age of 13-65 years from 2021 – 2024.”
It added that “October payments has began for those that have registered, register to be part of the beneficiaries.”
THE CLAIM
Government is disbursing N150,000 to N550,000 grant to student and business owners who are between 13 t0 65 age range.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show the claim is false.
Aside the grammatical errors, the content of the broadcast message shared on WhatsApp is self contradictory.
It initially stated that the fund is a minimum of N150,000 and maximum of N550,000, but in the next paragraph where it delineates what each age bracket can get, it stated that those within the 25-65 age brackets gets N400,000 to N700,000. The maximum figure has shifted.
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Furthermore, a look at the website the claim directs too has similar features with the websites The FactCheckHub has verified and found to be false here, here, here, and here.
The website after completing the form redirected to an adult content platform.
In addition even though it incorporated logos and graphics from the Federal Government-led Nigeria Youth Investment Fund , all the menu tabs of the website redirects to the same form page archived here. A click on the ‘Home page’, ‘Events’ and ‘Mail Us’ tab on the menu redirects to the same page which contains a black background, white texts, a form and congratulations to visitors.
This is an observed feature on fraudulent and phishing websites where the the tabs or social media icons do not do what they are supposed to do.
Furthermore the broadcast message in circulation as well as the website are laced with grammatical and typographical errors.
An earlier report by The FactCheckHub captures how to spot and why such websites masquerading as what they are not abound and circulates primarily on WhatsApp.
THE VERDICT
Although federal and states government in Nigeria have several empowerment programmes and schemes meant to support youths and small businesses, the claim in circulation is not one of them. It is therefore FALSE.
