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Claim: FAAN bans Ghana-must-go bags.
Verdict: MISLEADING. FAAN has distanced itself from the development, noting the ban came from Ethiopian Airlines.
Full Text
On Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, news that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had banned the use of matted woven, popularly called Ghana-must-go bags, was published by Arise News, Leadership, Daily Post Nigeria, the Guardian Nigeria, amongst other platforms.
These news platforms credited this development to a signed circular titled “Re: Prohibition of Usage Of Ghana Must Go” by the Airport Services Manager.
DUBAWA decided to verify the assertion to prevent misinformation.
Verification
We carried out an advanced Google Search using keywords and search modifiers and also visited FAAN’s website for the report but found nothing of such nature.
We then checked FAAN’s official X account (@FAAN_Official) and found a post where the airport authority distanced itself from the said ban, clarifying the ban was from Ethiopian Airlines.
Attached to this post is the image of the circular by Ethiopian Airlines.
Seeking the primary source of this circular, we visited the airline’s website and its official X account, Ethiopian Airline (@flyethopian), but did not find this circular. We further conducted a reverse image search on the copy shared by FAAN, but this only led to other unrelated brochures.
We conducted another keyword search on Ethiopian Airlines and the ban, revealing that other news platforms, like Punch Newspaper and The Cable, had reported this development, crediting it to Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria.
According to both reports, the ban was contained in a letter signed by Henok Gizachew, the airport services manager. The report revealed that the letter was addressed to the regional manager of FAAN. We also got a hold of the letter dated Nov. 24, 2023, addressed to FAAN, corroborating the report by Punch and Cable.
“Please be informed that effective 26th November 2023, the usage of Ghana Must Go to travel on our flight is hereby prohibited,” part of the letter reads.
We also observed that some platforms like Leadership and Daily Post, which ran with the FAAN headline earlier, had re-published in the last hour, crediting Ethiopian Airlines. This is most likely in reaction to the disclaimer by FAAN.
Conclusion
News reports on the ban on Ghana-must-go bags by FAAN are misleading. FAAN has distanced itself from this development and revealed that the ban was issued by Ethiopian Airlines.
