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Claim: A Facebook user posted an image of a bridge construction allegedly from Abia State.
Verdict: False! Our findings show that there is no such bridge in Abia State. An X user who posted the earliest version in June claimed the image was taken in China. However, the user failed to provide the name and exact location of the bridge.
Full Text
Following Alex Oti’s inauguration as governor of Abia State, infrastructural development and rehabilitation have been among the Labour Party flag bearer’s achievements since he assumed office.
While this has earned him praise from supporters, an image of a bridge began to make the rounds on Facebook with a claim that it was recently constructed by Mr Oti.
“Abia state longest bridge. This is the work of Alex Otti. This type of bridge will put Abia state in the first position,” ICute Chi, the claimant, wrote.
The bridge, which appeared to be under construction, was surrounded by hills and had a tunnel cut out of the rock. It also had another road network beneath, with vehicles passing unhindered.
This claim has since gained popularity, with other users posting it, as seen here, here, here, here, here, and here.
While many commended the governor, a few other users have opposed him, saying “the bridge is actually in China and not Abia. For instance, Tunde Sala wrote, “It is in China and not Abia.”
Another user, Charles Eze, questioned the post’s authenticity.
“Why are you spreading lies? What do you people gain from it?” he wrote in the comment section.
Due to the rising controversy and the claim’s virality, DUBAWA decided to investigate this claim.
Verification
Although hills are not uncommon in Nigeria, DUBAWA has not seen a road network that passes through rocks. We conducted keyword searches, but no results produced bridges with rock tunnels in Nigeria. We also contacted Emmanuel Nwazue, a local journalist in Abia, who confirmed the non-existence of such a bridge in the state.
Next, we subjected the photo to a reverse image search and found it had appeared online on June 22, 2024. Civil Engineering Discoveries, a blog for posting construction images, published its earliest version on X with the caption “China Bridge Construction.”
However, this user failed to provide the name and exact location of the bridge. We sent a message requesting these details but received no response after 48 hours.
We conducted keyword searches but found no Chinese bridge fits the one under verification.
Conclusion
Our findings reveal no bridge of this kind in Abia State. The earliest version of this image was posted by an X user in June, who claimed it was taken in China. However, the user did not provide details about the bridge’s name or location.
