Few days before the #June12Protest this tweet shared a poster with a graphic image of a baby allegedly burnt by the Fulani bandits in Igangan, Oyo state in Nigeria. This same poster was reshared under the same hashtag.
Background
With such protests, just like any other, there is more likelihood that misleading information can find its way into the discussion. The hashtags #June12Protest and #BuhariMustGo are protests calling for good governance in Nigeria. A heated concern over the rise of insecurity in the country answers why this protest found its way to the streets and social media. A report by the International Crisis Group states that over 2 million Nigerians have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency group. This has prompted the growth of civilian, self-defense groups, posing a security risk.
The most recent attack on the Igangan community happened on the night of June 7, 2021. According to a report from police in Oyo State there was a lot of looting during the attack. 11 people were also reported dead. It is not yet established who was behind this attack.
Verification
Reverse image searches indicate that this image surfaced on the internet early this year. However, viewer discretion is advised as some of the results attributed here contain graphic content.
The first result shows that this image was shared on February 11, 2021. This was during an armed conflict in Batibo, Cameroon. It is unknown who exactly is behind this attack, but this happens to be part of a continuous conflict from 2016. (See screengrab below).
Piga Firmbi noted that this image was taken from a video from this incident in Cameroon. Although pulled down by Twitter, this video had also been shared on Facebook on February 12, 2021. (See screen grab below).
The same image was earlier shared under different false claims. A Facebook post from June 4, 2021 alleges that this happened in Ebonyi, Biafra Land.
Verdict
The poster showing a graphic image of a baby allegedly burnt in Igangan, Oyo State is MISLEADING. This incident happened in Batibo, Cameroon, early this year.
This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
Add comment