AN image of a suspension bridge with link roads underpass has been circulating on social media with multiple claims that it is a popular highway bridge in different parts of Nigeria.
A Facebook user with the name: Mr Influence, shared the image alongside a caption that read:
This is the famous Spaghetti Highway Bridge built by Ben Ayade linking Calabar Municipality and Odukpani LGA in Cross River State.
The post, shared on Friday, July 21 has since gained traction of over 10,000 reactions, more than 2,700 comments and shared over 800 times as of Sunday, July 23, 2023.
READ : Viral images of bridge in circulation are that of Rivers’ Garrison flyover bridge, not Ebonyi
Another Twitter user with the username: @lubem24 shared the same image with a different caption thus:
Places the media won’t show you about Makurdi town
CLAIM
The image shows popular bridge in Benue (Makurdi) and Cross River (Calabar-Odukpani LGAs) states in Nigeria.
Â
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
A Google Lens search of the image shows that the bridge is the Nansha Bridge located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China and not sited in any part of Nigeria.
It connects Nansha District of Guangzhou City and Shatian Town of Dongguan City in China.
It is a cross-sea bridge located on the Pearl River Shiziyang. It was formerly known as Humen Second Bridge. It is another super bridge in the Pearl River Delta of China after the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge.
The Nansha Bridge‘s construction started on December 28, 2013; it was completed and opened to traffic on April 2, 2019.
The bridge, with its length of 12.9 km and width of 40.5 m, accommodating eight traffic lanes, is the world’s widest steel box girder suspension bridge. It is also the steel box girder suspension bridge with the largest span (1,688 m) in the world.
A close look at the captions suggests that the social media posts were perhaps meant to be a parody but this is a type of disinformation, as some individuals might possibly believe the claims.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the image shows a popular bridge in Benue (Makurdi) and Cross River (Calabar-Odukpani LGAs) states in Nigeria respectively is misleading; checks show that it is the Nansha Bridge located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in China and not related to anywhere in Nigeria.
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 [email protected].
