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Claim: A WhatsApp broadcast message claims that poisoned fruits from northern Nigeria cause an unnamed disease.
Verdict: False. The viral image used to portray the unnamed disease, previously identified as mpox, was witnessed in Nigeria in the 1970s and between 2017 and 2022. However, no credible news outlet or reputable source has reported a recent outbreak in Nigeria.
Full Text
Despite being an end-to-end encryption messaging application, Meta’s WhatsApp users still largely use its broadcast message feature to reach out to wider recipients. As such, users have also rapidly exploited this feature to manifest unverified news content.
Recently, a viral WhatsApp broadcast circulated on the messaging app, informing Nigerian users to be wary of certain fruits from northern Nigeria because they have been contaminated. The message also mentions that the Oba of Lagos (also known as the Eleko of Eko), Rilwan Akiolu, is the announcer of the viral message.
“Just got this from the Oba of Lagos palace now. Please don’t eat carrots, apples, watermelons, and other fruits coming from the north,” the broadcast message contained.
“We got a report that Boko Haram has sent over 54,000 apples to the southwest for sale, been poison with chemicals…” it further expressed.
A screenshot of the viral WhatsApp broadcast message
A screenshot of the viral WhatsApp broadcast message
A similar post has also been shared on Facebook.
Due to the virality of the post and its sensitivity, DUBAWA decided to verify it.
Verification
We conducted a Google reverse image search and discovered a similar image to the one on the viral WhatsApp broadcast message on X. The photos, which were posted by X user (@Jatiti_Of_Lagos), were found to be linked with mpox.
DUBAWA then did a brief Google search on a recent outbreak of mpox in Nigeria. A National Library of Medicine publication published on Jul. 7, 2023, highlights the period that Nigeria witnessed the disease, including between 1970 and 1980, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
The research paper provides statistics on the recent disease occurrence in Nigeria between Sept. 2017 and Feb. 2022.
A scientific report in Nature also references similar dates when mpox was last witnessed in Nigeria, indicating 2022 as the year it last occurred.
Besides, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has diagnosed that mpox is caused by the mpox virus (MPXV), a double-stranded virus of the Orthopoxvirus genus from the Poxviridae family. This virus has variola, cowpox, vaccinia and other viruses.
Hindustan Times mentions that it is a zoonotic virus transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal or with contaminated material.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), infection occurs via contact with an infected animal’s (monkeys, rodents, and squirrels) blood, body fluids, skin, or mucosal lesions. This can happen through a bite, scratch, handling, or half-cooked infected meat.
The disease control agency also mentions that limited human-to-human transmission can occur through prolonged face-to-face contact via respiratory droplets, body fluids of an infected person, and even contaminated objects, such as clothing and bedding. Nothing suggests that the disease can be contracted via poisoned fruits.
Moreover, the Oba of Lagos, also known as the Eleko of Eko, has not issued a public statement warning people to be wary of poisoned fruits from northern Nigeria. Besides, no credible news outlet has reported a recent mpox outbreak in the country.
Conclusion
The claim is false, as reliable reports inform that mpox was last recorded in Nigeria in 2022. Moreover, neither the Oba of Lagos nor credible media outlets have said or reported anything related to the outbreak of mpox.
Editor’s Note: The word “Monkeypox” was reviewed to mpox, following the WHO guideline.
