AN X user, Harry (@chiditweets042), has posted two photos: one showing two people in front of a plastic bowl, and another showing bowls containing human body parts with a claim that the photos show a Yoruba couple recently apprehended for ritual killings in Ondo State.
Harry claimed that a search was conducted at the suspects’ house recently in Akoko area of Ondo State where human hands, three kidneys, three hearts, a spine, and a tongue were found in their possession.
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He posted on X thus:
“Yorubanivorous Skuller Alfa Oluwafemi Idris has been arrested by the police in Ondo State.
“A search was conducted in his house at Akoko and human hands, three kidneys, three hearts, spine and tongue were found in his possession.
The suspect claimed he is an Islamic cleric and some of the human parts were supplied by his friend, an Alhaji who is also a cleric and one Samuel Kutelu, while he supplied one Babatunde Kayode ( an Oluawo) 3 human heads.
The said Oluawo and Babatunde Kayode have been arrested.”
The post has garnered over 600,000 views with more than 4,000 likes and over 2,400 reposts as of September 9, 2024.
CLAIM
Photos show a Yoruba couple caught with human parts recently.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the photos were old images being reposted as recent.
Our researcher conducted a Google Reverse Image search on the images, and the result showed that they were old pictures being reposted as recent.
Image 1
When the first image was subjected to a Google Reverse Image search, the result revealed that the image had been online since February 2022. The image showed a couple – Kehinde Oladimeji, 43 and Adejumoke Raji, 35, – who were caught in possession of human parts in Ogun State, The Nation reported.
The couple were arrested at their residence situated at No.72, MKO Abiola Way, Leme, Abeokuta, the state capital.
The suspects were reported after community members perceived a stench coming out from the residence. This prompted the police to search the house and arrest them.
The image was also used in the same report as published by other media platforms as seen here, here, here and here.
Image 2
A Google Reverse Image search conducted on the second image revealed that it shows human hands recovered from a self-proclaimed Islamic cleric, Oluwafemi Idris, who was arrested by the Ondo State Police Command in March 2024. The image was also shared here and here with same narrative.
The suspect was apprehended after a search was conducted in his house at Akoko. Other human parts such as three kidneys, three hearts, spine and tongue were also found in his possession.
Our researcher however noticed that a textual part of the X post was reported by some media platforms earlier in the year 2024, though the focus of this fact-check is on the images used to mislead the public as though recent.
Our researcher had earlier observed a growing divide between Nigerians of Igbo extraction and their Yoruba counterparts (majorly from Southwestern Nigeria) on X, thus fuelling ethnic-motivated misinformation on the social media platform.
This is not the first time a visual targeted at spawning ethnic hatred in Nigeria would go viral on the X platform.
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The FactCheckHub had earlier debunked a graphic video that surfaced online with a claim that it showed Igbos from Nigeria being killed for using people for money rituals in Mozambique. Our findings showed the incident occurred in Haiti and was unrelated to money rituals or people of Igbo extraction.
Similarly, a video showing angry youths reportedly vandalizing the Nigerian embassy in Dakar, Senegal surfaced online with a claim it shows a recent riot by Nigerians of Igbo extraction in that country. However, our findings showed that the claim is misleading.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the photos show a Yoruba couple caught with human parts is MISLEADING; they are old photos from separate incidents that occurred in different Nigerian states.
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.
