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Claim: A Facebook post shows the Sultan of Sokoto wearing a charm garment.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s findings showed that the image was manipulated to paint this narrative. We discovered that two different and unrelated images were merged to achieve this result.
Full Text
Social media has been abuzz with an image of Muhammad (Sa’adu) Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, dressed like a shaman. In addition to his headgear, he was depicted as wearing a black garment decorated with red charms, local cutting combs, bones, and cowries.
On Facebook, users like Ipadabo Folashade posted this photo with a caption that advised the Sultan to embrace the Indigenous religion fully.
She wrote, “It’s never too late. It will be better for the Sultana of Sokoto to embrace Isese. The only & absolute way of life. L’ogun ofe o.”
@MilesHopkins15 also shared this claim on X, generating 1.3k likes, 344 reposts, and 106 controversial comments.
While many questioned the authenticity of this post, several others believed it to be true. DUBAWA conducted this fact check to set the records straight.
Verification
There are three major religions in Nigeria; however, it is rare to see a Nigerian practice more than one religion at a time. Apart from being a firm Islamist, the Sultan is also considered the spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria. Therefore, it appears odd for him to be seen wearing a garment that many Muslims may find unacceptable.
Firstly, DUBAWA noticed the photo was excessively blurred, which is usually a sign of manipulation. A Google keyword search revealed an image of the Sultan with headgear and facial expressions similar to those in the viral photo. This picture of the Sultan has been used in several media reports, as seen here and here.
Using Google Lens, we isolated the upper part of the viral image and conducted a reverse image search. The result led us to the original version, published on Wikimedia on Nov. 5, 2015. The photo was made public with the caption “War armour in Yoruba land” and a description that says, “This is an image of cultural fashion or adornment from Nigeria.”
In the original version, an unknown man was seen wearing the same attire used to represent the Sultan.
When we compared the original image and the viral version, we realised that the hand of the unknown man was the same as the hand in the manipulated image of the Sultan. He also held the same armlet the Sultan was shown holding while wearing the same sweatshirt seen on the Sultan. The unknown man’s head was digitally replaced with the Sultan’s.
Conclusion
The viral image of the Sultan of Sokoto dressed like a shaman was manipulated to paint a misleading narrative.
