AN X user, @teejayy__x has posted a video of some youths protesting on a street, claiming that it shows an ongoing protest in Abuja on July 29.
Most of the protesters who were dressed in native attires and caps can be seen in the video wielding cardboard and burning tyres.
READ: Video of February demonstration in Ibadan used to depict planned August protest
The X user posted the video with a caption thus:
“HANGRY, a volatile mix of hunger and anger! As Nigerians mobilize for the #EndBadGovernanceProtest, authorities, particularly law enforcement, must exercise high emotional intelligence to avoid inflaming the situation. With citizens already frustrated. Vid: Live in Abuja today.”
The video has generated over 13,000 views on X as of July 31, 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows #EndBadGovernance protest in Abuja.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video is few months old. The video shows scene of a protest held in Kano State over the Kano emirate tussle in May 2024.
The hike in cost of living amid current economic hardship in the country have pushed many Nigerians to plan a nationwide protest scheduled from August 1 to 10.
The Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had scrapped a popular fuel subsidy and devalued the local currency, the naira, thus causing a spiral hike in food and commodity prices.
Tagged “10 days of rage,” or “End Bad Governance in Nigeria”, the protest has led to the trending of hashtags like #EndBadGovernance, #EndBGIN, #EndBadGovernance2024 and #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria on multiple social media platforms, especially on X for days.
There were reports that the protest had allegedly commenced in some states.
Despite pleadings by some religious and political leaders in the country, many Nigerians still insist on embarking on the protest.
The FactCheckHub subjected keyframes in the video to a Google reverse image search and the result shows that the video had been online since May 2024.
An earlier version of the video was posted here by Leadership newspaper on May 26, 2024. It can also be seen here.
The video shows some youths protesting over the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II and the removal of Aminu Ado Bayero as the Emir of Kano.
They protested on the state road close to the Nasarawa residence of the Emir where Aminu Ado Bayero resides, Channels TV reported.
Recall that earlier this year, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II and Aminu Ado Bayero, dethroned Emir of Kano, were locked in a battle for the royal stool of the Kano emirate.
Sanusi was the Emir before he was dethroned in 2020 by the then-governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, over allegations of insubordination. He later appointed Ado Bayero as emir.
Following the emergence of a new Kano governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, after Nigeria’s 2023 general election, the Kano State House of Assembly repealed the law which was used to unseat Sanusi.
Consequently, the Kano governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, announced Sanusi’s reinstatement as Emir after signing the new Kano Emirate Council Law. The development led to a long tussle for months in the state.
Even though the planned protest over economic hardship is yet to commence nationwide, The FactCheckHub has identified various instances where unrelated videos were falsely used to depict the protest.
READ ALSO: Old video of youths protesting at Emir of Ilorin’s palace circulates online
Recall that The FactCheckHub had earlier debunked a similar video showing some youths holding placards and burning tyres which was shared with a claim that the protest had commenced in Kano. We established that the video is unrelated to the planned August protest.
We also established that another video which was used to depict the planned protest shows a demonstration that had earlier occurred in May 2024 in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows #EndBadGovernance protest in Abuja is MISLEADING; the video showed a protest over the removal of Ado Bayero as Emir of Kano in May 2024.
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.