|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: An X user, Marquis Of Infamy (@Unabombaar), posted a photo of people standing in a queue along a road, claiming it shows Yoruba people waiting to be fed leftovers from the Lagos Igbo Hangout held on June 15, 2025.
Verdict: False. The photo is unrelated to the Lagos Igbo Hangout. It surfaced online in December 2024 and depicts long queues of Lagos residents (of no identified tribe) seeking Christmas palliatives at President Bola Tinubu’s Bourdillon residence.
Full Text
On June 15, 2025, the Igbo community in Lagos held the second edition of the Lagos Igbo Hangout, a cultural event to celebrate Igbo identity while promoting ethnic harmony and unity in Nigeria’s most diverse city. The event, hosted at FHA Field, Festac, featured cultural performances, masquerade displays, beauty contests, and music.
However, on the same day as the event, an X user, Marquis Of Infamy (@Unabombaar), posted a photo (archived here) of a crowd standing along a roadside, with the caption: “Yoruba people at the entrance of the Lagos Igbo Hangout allegedly waiting to be fed leftovers.”
As of June 19, 2025, the post had garnered over one million views, 1,800 likes, 860 shares, and hundreds of mixed reactions, ranging from condemnation and disbelief to ethnic stereotyping and mockery.
President Eniola Daniel (@UnlimitedEniola) wrote: “I am a Yoruba. I paid for this hangout, dressed the Igbo way, and mingled with the Igbos. There were so many Yorubas at the hangout yesterday. How do you think I and others will feel about this post? Your post is ridiculous…”
Aji Sebi OYO (@OLUWALONIII) wrote: “You stole a picture from another occasion entirely and nailed it with this captioning. You’ll go learn soon.”
Somtobechukwu (sire) (@sire_sommy) wrote: “I am Igbo and this post doesn’t represent my people, neither does it paint the actual image of how we see our Yoruba brothers. This post is unnecessary.
Power Ranger (@Felicia091148) wrote, “The reason Yorubas are so offended by this post is because they know deep down it is true.”
Due to the sensitive nature of this post and its potential to incite ethnic tension, DUBAWA launched an investigation to verify its authenticity.
Verification
We conducted a Google reverse image search that traced the image to news reports and posts dating back to Dec. 25–27, 2024, as seen here, here, and here. These publications identified the crowd as Nigerians of unspecified ethnic background, gathered outside President Bola Tinubu’s Bourdillon residence in Lagos to collect Christmas palliatives.
DUBAWA further conducted keyword searches using phrases like “palliatives at President Bola Tinubu’s Bourdillon residence” and “long queues at Tinubu’s Lagos residence on Christmas Eve.” This led to some corroborating posts with videos here and here.
Some posts, including reports from Peoples Gazette, edquoted Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, criticising President Tinubu’s administration. He said, “Queues for presidential handouts at Bourdillon on Christmas Eve highlight a sobering reality. Poverty knows no tribe, religion, politics, or region. It is a universal challenge that demands collective action and sustainable solutions.”
Similarly, The PUNCH reported that opposition figures used the viral image and video of residents lining up at the President’s residence to condemn the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the deepening poverty in the country.
Efforts to trace the original post by Senator Ali Ndume on his verified X account proved abortive, as the post appears to have been deleted.
Conclusion
The claim that Yoruba people were waiting for leftovers at the Lagos Igbo Hangout is false. The image was misappropriated from an unrelated event that had taken place six months earlier. It shows a crowd of Lagos residents queuing for palliatives at President Tinubu’s residence on Christmas Eve. It does not depict people from any tribe, nor is it related to the June 2025 Igbo cultural event.
