A social media influencer, Rinu Oduala, has posted a photo showing rows of dilapidated housing structures alongside a claim that it depicts the current living conditions of Nigerian police officers.
She posted on her X handle, @savvyrinu, on May 6, 2025 thus:
“Self-contained Apartments of police officers killing peaceful protesters demonstrating against bad governance.”
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Although she did not directly referenced Nigeria in her post, her previous posts and reactions in the comment section alluded that she is criticizing the state of police welfare in Nigeria despite their crackdown on protesters in series of demonstration across the country, including last year’s August protests tagged #EndBadGovernance protests.
The post has since gained over 100,000 views, alongside more than 1,800 reposts, and over 4,300 likes as of May 10, 2025.
CLAIM
Image shows state of police residential in Nigeria.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the image is not recent and does not originate from Nigeria.
In recent years, Nigeria has witnessed a series of crackdowns on peaceful protesters by security forces, particularly the police. Demonstrations against bad governance, corruption, and police brutality such as the 2020 #EndSARS protests, End Bad Governance protests in August 2024 have often been met with excessive force, including use of tear gas, live ammunitions, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation.
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Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International have repeatedly documented cases of unlawful killings and abuse of protesters by the Nigerian police and military, raising serious concerns about the shrinking civic space in the country.
This is despite the fact that many police officers themselves are victims of the same systemic failures. Poor salaries, lack of adequate housing, delayed promotions, and harsh working conditions have long plagued the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Numerous reports have highlighted the dilapidated state of police barracks, inadequate welfare packages, and insufficient resources for officers, all of which contribute to low morale and inefficiency within the force.
However, a Google Reverse Image Search shows that the photo was shared on Facebook in 2017 by Uganda Youth Freedom Fighters against Violence, a human rights advocacy group based in Uganda.
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Like Nigeria, police officers also face poor welfare conditions in Uganda, including inadequate housing and insufficient work resources, as documented in multiple government and media reports as seen here, here, here, here and here.
The image was also reshared in 2020 by another Ugandan media platform, www.edge.ug. It was also used here as featured image in a 2012 news report.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the image shows state of police residential in Nigeria is MISLEADING. The image has been online since 2012 and shows a police barrack in Uganda, not Nigeria.
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 nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
