An X user, @thatverydarkmnn has posted a video of protesting on the streets has surfaced online with a claim that the planned nationwide protest has commenced in some Nigerian states.
The protesters wielded placards with inscriptions like: “End Nigerian Hardship”, “Tinubu Go ooo”, “Tinubu. It is not by force. Come and be going”.
READ: Video does not show #EndBadGovernance protest in Kano
He posted the video with a caption that read:
“BREAKING NEWS: END HARDSHIP PROTEST OFFICIALLY STARTED IN SOME STATES.”
The video has generated over 140,000 views, with over 1,000 reposts and more than 2,300 likes as of Monday, July 29, 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows #EndBadGovernance protest in some Nigerian states.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
Nigerians are planning to stage a nationwide protest from August 1 to 10, dubbed “10 days of rage,” or “End Bad Governance in Nigeria” to express their displeasure over the country’s soaring cost of living and economic hardship. This is why the hashtags: #EndBadGovernance, #EndBGIN, #EndBadGovernance2024 and #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria have been trending on multiple social media platforms, especially on X for days. There were reports that the protest has allegedly commenced in some states.
Despite pleadings by some political leaders in the country, many Nigerians still insist on embarking on the protest.
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.
Analysis of the footage shows that it was shared by a TikTok account, “mc_bokujaka01”, on February 19, 2024, without a caption.
Some clues in the footage also revealed that it was taken in February 2024. For instance, two banners seen at exactly 12 and 21 seconds into the video had “19TH February 2024” written on them.
A keyword search online showed that the video showed a protest over the economic hardship by residents of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital. The protest was reported here by TheCable. Some banners seen in the video are also seen in the images posted by an X user on the same day.
Findings also showed that the video had earlier been falsely used to depict a protest in May 2024, which was debunked by AFP. An AFP journalist who was at the scene of the protest confirmed in the report that the video shows a protest in the southwestern city of Ibadan.
Recall that The FactCheckHub had earlier debunked a video showing some youths holding placards and burning tyres which was shared with a claim that the protest had commenced in Kano.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video showed the ‘end bad governance’ protest in some Nigerian states is MISLEADING; the video depicts a protest that occurred in Ibadan in February 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.