Claim: A user on Twitter claims that ‘over 50 cows belonging to Fulani herdsmen were poisoned to death by Amotekun and or Yoruba youths in Akoko Local Government Area, of Ondo state.
The claim that ‘over 50 cows belonging to Fulani herdsmen were poisoned to death by Amotekun/Yoruba youths in Akoko LGA, Ondo state is false. The picture was dated from a news report that took place in 2019 and maliciously used to paint a false narrative.
Full text
The ongoing crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers mostly in the south is no new story. Now, in reference to this existing reality, a Twitter user, Sarki (@Waspapping_) claims that ‘over 50 cows that belonged to Fulani herdsmen were poisoned to death by Amototekun/Yoruba youths in Akoko LGA, Ondo State. The user implied that the matter is not voiced on any media.
Alongside a photo displaying the acclaimed dead cows is also the narrative: “I just woke up to the news that Over 50 cows that belong to “Fulani herdsman” were poisoned to deaths on Monday in Akoko LGA, Ondo state, by Amotekun/Yoruba youths, no any outcry from anyone or media outrage. No hashtags, nothing. It’s well.”
Nonetheless, the tweet attracted over 1,100 like, close to 600 retweets and over 300 diverse comments that cut across suspicion and conviction.
The acclaimed Amotekun displayed by the claimant is a security outfit based in southwestern Nigeria that was established in 2020 by the southwestern governors to respond to the security challenges in the region. Hence, this claim will not only trigger controversy but even chaos If it is not carefully scrutinized.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a Yandex reverse image search and results show that the acclaimed picture of dead cows in question was from major news in 2019 about a mysterious thunder that struck on Oke Owa, Ijare community in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, killing at least 36 cows.
The news was popular around the time it occurred 3 years ago and had attracted multiple reports from different media. Apparently, the claimant only dated the picture a bogus narrative to it.
Conclusion
The picture provided by the claimant as evidence was dated and picked out of its original context to paint a rather bogus and false report.
