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On assumption of office on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu declared fuel subsidy removal— a government policy that would witness the government stopping its role in partly financing oil consumption costs.
Soon after, the country began to witness a downturn in economic stability, including the naira’s devaluation, hike in commodity and service prices, high unemployment rate, scourging hunger, etc.
The persistence of these problems snowballed into a protest on Aug. 1, 2024, hashtagged #EndBadGovernance, which attempted to confront the government’s harsh policies.
In this report, DUBAWA highlights various instances where old and unrelated videos were used to depict the #EndBadGovernance protest.
1. Video showing Wizkid participating in the protest
A Facebook user shared a video claiming that Afrobeats singer and Grammy award winner Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, participated in the EndBadGovernance.
DUBAWA’s findings show that the footage uploaded by the claimant is an old video that has been online since Oct. 11, 2022. The video shows the “One Dance” crooner carrying a placard and agitating that the government disband the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) security outfit in 2020. Many civilians in Nigeria and abroad engaged in the public agitation, which was tagged #EndSARS.
More details here.
2. Video of protesters receiving a bag of rice from the Federal Government
A Facebook and X user posted a video showing women carrying what appeared to be bags of rice on their heads. The user claimed the bags were palliatives from the Federal Government to discourage the protesters from demonstrating.
DUBAWA’s investigation shows that the video emanated from a flag-off ceremony of the Aliko Dangote Foundation’s donation of 10 kilograms of rice bags to Nigerians to alleviate food insecurity in the country. Moreover, the video has been online since April 2024, before the protest began.
Read further here.
3. Video of Davido protesting during #EndBadGovernance
Amidst the #EndBadGovernance protest, Afrobeats singer David Adeleke’s picture was circulated, denoting that Davido participated in the protest.
However, via Google Reverse Image Search, DUBAWA discovered that mainstream media and blogs initially used the pictures of the “Unavailable” crooner to report Mr Adeleke’s participation in the EndSARS protest in 2020.
Further details here.
4. Circulating video of murdered police officer, POS operator
A video of a murdered woman and police officers circulating on Meta’s WhatsApp was suggested to be linked to the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protest.
However, DUBAWA’s verification revealed the video was an attack by gunmen at Blossom Hotel checkpoint in Irete, Owerri-West Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo State. The incident that happened on Monday, July 29, 2024, led to the deaths of four police officers and a Point of Sale (POS) operator. This incident is unconnected to the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Read more here.
5. Video of protesters stoning police officers in Kaduna
A video uploaded by an X user showing police officers fleeing from a small group of people hurling stones was suggested to have happened in Kaduna State during the #EndBadGovernance protest.
However, DUBAWA verified a similar video shared on X, which shows a protest that broke out in Kenya in July 2024 when a mob in Kenya chased after some Kenyan police officers. An Al Jazeera report also corroborates the incident.
Read more here.
6. Video showing Peter Obi’s participation in the protest
A popular Instagram blog alleged that former Anambra State governor and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, joined the #EndBadGovernance protest in Abuja on Aug. 1.
When DUBAWA checked, a similar post on TikTok showed that the video dates back to June 27, 2024. Moreover, Mr Obi refuted the claim via his X handle, stating that he had been in Anambra State since July 30 before the protest started.
Moreover, the video circulated online was taken during his visit to the Labour Party headquarters, where he intervened in a clash between the Labour Party (LP) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Read more here.
7. Man in Spider-Man outfit was arrested during the protest
During the protest, a man dressed in a Spider-Man outfit joined the protest in Abuja, drawing comic thoughts from Nigerians. In light of this, an X user uploaded a picture showing the costumed individual’s participation in the protest and another photo showing his alleged subsequent arrest by the police.
However, a Google Reverse Image Search on the image shows that although amongst the protesters was an individual dressed in a Spider-Man costume, the scene where police officers arrested him was from a TikTok skit.
The skit was uploaded on YouTube on Jul. 12, 2024, and later on TikTok on June 26, 2024. It was unconnected to the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Find more here.
