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Claim: Facebook users shared a video showing how the Indonesian government is hanging Nigerians to death for drug offences.
Verdict: Misleading. Contrary to the narrative, DUBAWA found that the video has no connection to Nigerians, drugs, or any capital punishment in Indonesia. Instead, it was taken from an advertisement for a Spanish company that produces Halloween props for entertainment.
Full Text
A video allegedly showing how Nigerians are being hanged to death in Indonesia for drug-related offences has been making the rounds on Facebook.
The 4-minute video featured an Igbo clergyman who warned Nigerians living in Indonesia to stay away from crime to avoid being punished to death in this manner. While he arguably made this video with good intentions, the clip’s outlook raises suspicion.
In this video, the supposed victims had their legs hanged with their bodies left to dangle upside down. In most countries, this is not the conventional way of executing capital punishment. Offenders would rather be hanged from their necks and not the other way round. Apart from that, such events are kept discreet, and videos of the scenes are hardly seen on social media.
This video has been shared by many and recreated with the same narrative as seen here. DUBAWA conducted this fact check due to its virality and impact on Nigerians in the diaspora, specifically those living in Indonesia.
Verification
We broke the video into keyframes and conducted a reverse image search. The results led us to a YouTube channel named “Mechanismus,” where this video was initially uploaded as a “fake Halloween animatronic prop.”
Living bodies in bags
MECHANISMUS is owned by a Spanish company that designs horror props solely for cinematic and entertainment purposes. These “scary” items are crafted from flexible materials such as silicone, latex, foam, or polyurethane to create realistic textures and replicate human movements. PVC or ABS plastic is also used to design internal skeletons for the props.
One of the company’s products is “living bodies in the bags.” It is a collection of life-sized, bagged bodies shaped like human corpses. It combines static and moving figures to create a chilling atmosphere. It is used to create an immersive horror experience and is sold for €3,300.
Other products sold by the company are “Dismembered Body (€4,200),” “Moving Hanger (€2,300),” and “Hanging Zombie (€2,300).” MECHANISMUS also runs an Instagram page where it advertises these products.
We also conducted keyword searches to find if this was in the news, as an event of such magnitude would have been reported by the media. However, we did not find any news related to the claim.
Conclusion
Contrary to the narrative, DUBAWA found that the video had no connection with Nigerians, drugs, or any capital punishment in Indonesia. The video was taken from a Spanish company’s advertisement for Halloween props for entertainment. The claim is, therefore, misleading.
