An X user, Arewa Lukurawa (@lukurawa16703), has posted a video showing a group of youths demolishing shops, with a claim that the shops belong to Igbo traders in Ghana.
The Igbo people are one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria in terms of population, concentrated in the South- East around the Niger River. They can also be found in the South-South part of the country.
The claimant posted the video with a caption: “Ghanaians now destroying Igbo shops.”
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The post has generated over 1.6 million views, more than 3,700 likes and 900 reposts.
CLAIM
Video shows shops owned by Igbo traders destroyed in Ghana.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
The FactCheckHub analysed keyframes from the video using Google Reverse Image Search. The result revealed that the footage shows a crackdown on suspected drug peddling hideouts by local youths in Sabon Zongo, Accra, Ghana, not an attack on Igbo traders.
An earlier version of the video with accurate context shared by many Ghana-based accounts, as can be seen here and here since April 2025, confirmed this.
READ ALSO : Video of ‘Igbo Must Go’ protest in Ghana is over 1 year old
Media reports from Ghana also corroborated the incident. According to the Ghana Crimes and Citinews, the incident happened on April 20, 2025, when youth of the area shut down suspected drug dens, shops, seizing illegal drugs like tramadol and codeine, in a move to curb growing drug abuse in the area. Over 20 shops allegedly linked to illegal drug activities were shut down during the operation.
The exercise was carried out by a community-led initiative called “No Drugs in Zongo Movement.” There is no evidence from publicly available records that the demolished shops were owned by Nigerians or individuals of Igbo descent.
The FactCheckHub had earlier reported a noticeable divide along ethnic lines, particularly on X.
This has fueled ethnically motivated misinformation on the social media platform, which has been fact-checked by this medium multiple times, as seen here, here and here. Such misinformation trends were previously projected to impact Nigeria’s information ecosystem in 2025.
VERDICT
The claim that the video shows the demolition of shops belonging to Igbo is MISLEADING, as findings showed that the video depicts an incident in Ghana.
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.
