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Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
A claim that Ondo state residents and indigenes are now leaving their homes en masse has surfaced on the internet.
The claim, shared alongside a 48-second video, was posted by an X user @voiceofigbos.
Our fact-checker observed in the video that the cameraman was likely in motion, on a motorbike, and spoke in Yoruba language – one of the major Nigerian languages. The footage shows people armed with their luggage in droves and trekking on a long tarred road.
A voice could be heard in the video background saying in Yoruba: “…kilode? Ilobu ti tan o, kilode e saanu wa ni Ilobu, Ilobu ti tan, Kilode (sic). When translated into English language using Google Translation tool, it means: “Why! Ilobu is finished! why, have mercy on us in Ilobu, Ilobu is finished; why?.”
But the X post by the claimant read:
So Ondo is now Occupied by terrorists, people are leaving their homes and Yoruba conservatives are quiet People that can’t secure and manage their small villages how on earth do you expect them to handle Nigeria Affairs.
The X post has garnered over 38,000 views with more than 500 reposts and over 900 likes as of April 6, 2025.
CLAIM
Video shows Ondo residents fleeing their homes in droves.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING!
Screenshot of the claim as retrieved from X. INSERT: MISLEADING verdict.
When our fact-checker input the keywords “Ondo Residents Flee homes” into the Google search engine, the results show media reports from communal crisis in Ondo State which occurred some months back as seen here and here.
A reverse image search conducted on screenshots from the video led us to previous appearances of the video on Facebook as seen here and here. Both videos were posted on March 21, 2025.
The captions accompanying the video read:
Evidence of Evil in #Osun State as Communal Clashes Escalate
Some residents on the run following escalation in the communal clash between Ilobu and Ifon in Osun State.
Security agents have confirmed the killing of at least two persons and destruction of property including a health centre.
The crisis between both towns , ostensibly over border demarcation flared up again in the night of Thursday March 20,2021with attacks and reprisal attacks from both sides including the use of guns and other dangerous weapons
Another caption written in Yoruba language read thus: ILU ILOBU TI DI ARORO GBOGBO ILU TI SALO. When translated into English language, it means: “Ilobu town is now empty, everyone has fled.”
Our fact-checker observed from the claimant’s audio-visual that the event took place in Ilobu, which is a town in Osun State, Nigeria that borders Ifon and Oshogbo towns.
On March 23, 2025, Punch newspaper reported that the clash over town boundary between Ilobu and Ifon communities in Osun State had escalated to the neighbouring community of Erin-Osun, leading to the displacement of more residents from the affected towns.
In response to the violence triggered by the boundary disputes, Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, had imposed a 24-hour curfew on the communities involved.
The spokesperson of the state governor, Olawale Rasheed, also noted in the report that old videos of communal conflicts from various parts of Osun State were being recirculated by opposition elements in an attempt to create a false impression of widespread insecurity in the state.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Ondo residents fleeing their homes in droves is MISLEADING; the video is from a communal crisis that rocked Ilobu town in Osun State, as residents were consequently displaced.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org.
