Image used to depict fake drugs. Picture source: CNN
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Claim: Pastor Okezie (@Onsugbo) shared a video on X reporting the arrest of a man named Emeka Madu in Ikotun, Lagos State, for manufacturing fake malaria drugs.
Verdict: Misleading! Our findings show the event happened five years ago. NAFDAC also published a disclaimer on this.
Full Text
The rise of fake drugs in Nigeria has become a serious health issue, worsened by the increasing cost of medicines. This problem grew after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) exited the Nigerian market. GSK had helped make quality drugs affordable, but its departure left a gap that local producers and smaller distributors have struggled to fill.
Pastor Okezie (@Onsugbo) shared a video on X reporting the arrest of a man named Emeka Madu in Ikotun, Lagos State. According to the video, Mr Madu was apprehended for producing fake malaria drugs in an uncompleted building.
The video shows police operatives inside the illicit factory, uncovering large quantities of fake drugs that were produced and packaged for sale. As the officers inspected the premises, Mr Madu could be seen guiding them through the facility and pointing out the areas where the fake malaria drugs were made. He also demonstrates the various ingredients and substances used in the production process, which were intended to be sold to unsuspecting consumers as malaria medication.
Since it was posted on Sept. 22, 2024, the video has garnered over 1,000,000 views, 952 likes, 681 retweets, and 401 comments. The post can also be found on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Due to the sensitive nature of this issue, the post’s virality, and the dangers of counterfeit drug production, along with the potential health risks posed to the public, DUBAWA decided to conduct a fact-check.
Verification
Noticing that the video in question was sourced from Channels Television, we carefully reviewed it. We observed that the headlines displayed at the bottom of the screen were from past events in Nigeria. This prompted us to conduct a keyword search based on the headline for further verification.
A thorough keyword search revealed that the headlines displayed in the video were not current but dated back to Dec. 15, 2018, from a broadcast on Channels Television. This discovery raised doubts about the video’s authenticity and context, suggesting that the footage may have been manipulated or repurposed to mislead viewers into believing it was recent.
We then conducted a Google reverse image search, and the result shows that Channels TV posted the video on Dec. 15, 2018, with the headline “Police uncover alleged fake drugs factory in Lagos.”
Furthermore, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) posted a disclaimer on its X account stating that the incident happened years ago and not recently.
Conclusion
According to our findings, the video circulating on social media, purportedly showing the recent arrest of Emeka Madu for producing fake malaria drugs, is misleading. The video, originally aired by Channels Television in 2018, was repurposed to appear as a current event.
I don’t know the definition of false and misleading information here. There’s serious problem of fake and counterfeit drugs in Nigeria, people are dying every day as a result of the activities of these heartless individuals. I wish Dubawa will tell me it didn’t happen at all it would be fine. The so-called misleading information have the Nigerian police speaking about it, a reputable television station Channels TV published the same new and the deadly activity is still on going. So what is misleading and false if Nigerians continue to raise awareness and speak against it even if the clip appeared some 10 years ago?.I think Meta and Dubawa are missing a point here. No information on fake and counterfeit drug activities in Nigeria can be described as false and misleading except you are simply playing to the gallery. Our people must be aware and be warned about the activities of these ungodly people in whatever way no matter who feels uncomfortable about it. Describing the information as false and misleading and also blocking it from public view by Meta is very unfortunate and is not helpful to the public awareness effort on fake and counterfeit drug which the video was intended to create generally.