THREE photos showing Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali and a woman have surfaced online with a claim that they show the footballer with his wife.
The photos were posted by a Facebook user who claimed to be the goalkeeper’s wife following the Eagles’ victory against South Africa last Wednesday at the Semi-Final of the ongoing African Cup of Nations.
Nwabali, who plays for Chippa United in the South African league stood out with his performance after saving two penalties during the penalty shoot-out and bagged the man of the match.
A Nigerian football journalist, Sulaiman Pooja posted the image with a caption thus:
“Nwabali’s wife shows off her husband. Keep off.”
The post has generated more than 400,000 views, over 800 reposts and over 8,700 likes as of February 11, 2024.
Another X user, @dammiedammie25 also posted the photos with a caption that read:
“Nwabali wife marking territory! Make una Comot eyes.”
The post has generated over 1.4million views, more than 2,800 reposts and over 28,000 likes as of February 11, 2024.
CLAIM
Photos show Nwabali with his wife.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
Checks show that the goalkeeper shared the photos on his Instagram page before the game last Wednesday and he was the only one in them.
A look at Nwabali’s Instagram account (@Nwabali32) shows that he posted the first photograph on January 2, 2023, while he posted the second photo where he stood inside a room on January 1, 2024. He posted the third photo standing in front of a white car on July 1, 2023. However, checks show that he stood alone in all the pictures without anybody by his side indicating that the viral images have been photoshopped and not genuine.
A critical look at the photos revealed that the frame of the woman in the images was placed in the pictures, as there was no connection between the two of them. This is a common feature of a doctored image.
However, in a subsequent post, the Facebook user later clarified that the earlier post was a mere joke. However, the influencers that shared the earlier post did not retract, pull down or offer clarification as of the time of filing the fact-check.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the picture shows Nwabali and his wife is MISLEADING; findings show that the viral images were photoshopped.
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.
