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Claim: A Facebook user claimed that Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, and House of Representative members confirmed that the Ibadan explosion was a terrorist attack.
Verdict: FALSE. In both publications referenced by the claimant, the President and legislative house did not indicate that the explosion was a terrorist attack.
Full Text
The Ibadan explosion joined other recent insecurity issues that Nigerians have battled. Citizens have been subjected to incessant cases of kidnapping, banditry, and other menace ravaging the country. Dele Alake, the minister of Solid Mineral Development, also said he has received life-threatening messages since he alleged that some powerful people are behind illegal explosions and banditry in the country.
After the explosion, Biafra Arise TV – a Facebook user– posted a 15-minute, 59-second video on his page, sharing screenshots of articles edited into the video. He analysed the two reports and alleged that the reports confirmed his earlier suspicion about the infiltration of the dreaded Boko Haram cult a week before the explosion. He also said the contents of the report mean the principals confirmed the explosion to be an attack from terrorists.
“Recall that I warned already a couple of days ago, exactly one week yesterday, that Boko Haram has invaded Yoruba land, Oyo, a bad or your state, to be precise. They came out en-masse to debunk it on social media platforms. But yesterday, the reverse was the case,” he said. “The presidency, or should I say the President himself, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has come today, Jan 17, 2024, to tell you that it was a terrorist attack. I will show you the first news, from The Nation Newspaper. After that, I will show you the president’s statement.”
He added, “With their comment, we are going to connect the dots, and then I will show you the statement from the Mr President. So, I want to urge you to stay tuned while I take you through this very news from the beginning till the very end.”
The two published articles referenced were titled “Reps committed to passing bills on community policing,” published in The Nation Newspaper, and “Those behind Ibadan explosion must be fished out, says Tinubu,” published in Vanguard newspaper.
As of Jan 30, 2024, the video has gotten 211 reactions, ten comments, and more than 2,500 views.
However, the headline in the news screenshots shared in the video does not connote the intention that the claim is passing. Also, the comment from the post incited anti-government states from the followers of the Biafra nation secessionists. For instance, Gomez Gozie commented, “Bad government and bad country, thank God we are going now. Everybody join hands together to achieve our mission, Biafra.”
Another follower, Dare Moses Olaoye, said, “All evils and cabals politicians are ruling Nigeria in the wrong ways; the time up is very near.”
The separatist comments prompted DUBAWA to read the reports and fact-check the claim’s veracity.
Verification
In its Jan. 17, 2024 report, the Nation Newspaper disclosed the Green Chamber’s commitment to amplifying the need to tackle insecurity by passing the bill on community policing in Nigeria. In the report, Stanley Olajide –chairman of the House Committee on ICT– emphasised the importance of community policing in tackling security challenges and stressed the urgency of passing relevant legislation, especially in light of recent events such as the explosion in Ibadan.
While praising the state governor, Seyi Makinde, for his swift response along with other first responders for being proactive since the explosion, he acknowledged the severity of the incident, attributing it to the possession of explosives by illegal miners in a residential area. He also called for stricter control over the storage and distribution of explosives to prevent similar tragedies. These statements were reiterated by Ademorin Kuye, who called for fiscal federalism and collaboration between the president and the national assembly to implement state police.
Reading through this article, we found no mention or statement that attributed the explosion to a terrorist attack. We copied the report to Chat GPT, a generative AI tool that uses general-purpose language models to streamline conversations, for analysis if the report indicated that the representatives attributed the Ibadan explosion to a terrorist attack.
“No, the article does not indicate that the House of Representatives members confirmed the explosion in Ibadan as a terrorist attack,” the chatbot revealed.
“They referred to it as a horrific situation and mentioned the presence of explosives in a residential area, but there is no explicit statement categorising it as a terrorist attack. The focus of the discussion in the article revolves around the response to the incident, the need for community policing, and efforts to address the security situation rather than labelling it as a specific type of attack,” the chatbot further explained.
The second report referenced was published in Vanguard newspaper on Jan. 17, 2024. It revealed the president’s deep concerns regarding the explosion and directed authorities to apprehend the perpetrators. Mr Tinubu also instructed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to collaborate with the Oyo State Government in providing immediate and comprehensive relief to the victims.
We requested Chat GPT to analyse this report, and its response was, “No, the article does not mention that President Tinubu confirmed the explosion as a terrorist attack. Instead, he expressed concern over the incident and directed authorities to investigate and hold those responsible, particularly individuals associated with illegal mining activities, accountable. The focus of the statement was on addressing the aftermath of the explosion, providing relief to victims, and ensuring thorough investigation rather than labelling it as a terrorist attack.”
Conclusion
While the President and members of the House of Representatives agreed that the accident was a human mishap, the reports analysed in the claim did not indicate that they confirmed the explosion as a terrorist attack. This makes the claim false.
