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Claim: An X user posted a video showing a woman in traditional attire scooping filthy water from a hole, claiming it was filmed in Northern Nigeria.
Verdict: FALSE. The video is not related to Nigeria. Findings show that it is linked with the Hammer tribe in Ethiopia.
Full Text
Former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi recently commissioned a water supply hand pump in Sabon Layi, a suburb in Bauchi’s local government area of Bauchi State.
The project, which drew in backlashes from citizens in the country, became a controversial subject on social media platforms.
An X user, DearestJessica (@TrulyDearest), posted a 16-second video clip of a woman scooping unclean water from a dug pit and stated that it was such a pathetic situation that Mr Obi should carry out water projects in the north region of Nigeria.
“This is what Peter Obi saw in northern Nigeria, which moved him to embark on digging boreholes for them,” the X user wrote.
Expectedly, the post garnered many engagements, including 403,000 views, 246 likes, 118 reposts, 46 quotes, and 22 bookmarks.
In the comment section, some other X users disagreed with her.
“This is not a northern Nigerian woman(.) We don’t have any tribe that dress(es) like this in northern Nigeria,” Umar Muhammed Yakassai (@umaryajasail12) disagreed.
“I am from Zaria, and both Muslims and Christians (do not) dress like this.” UNSCRAMZ DOINGS (@idrgafWhatever) also disagreed.
Due to the different opinions expressed in reaction to the post, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
DUBAWA subjected screenshots of the video to a Google Reverse Image Search, and we located a similar video posted on YouTube that was posted on April 3, 2024. For details of the video clip, read, “WaterShortage#tribalVillsge#shortvideo#shorts#hammer tribe.”
After that, we conducted a keyword search on the Hamer tribe and discovered via Atlas of Humanity that the tribe is linked with the southwestern part of Ethiopia, specifically in the Omo River valley.
The tribe is associated with the culture of body adornment. Women usually wear strings of colourful beads, and according to Atlas of Humanity, they adorn their necks with heavy polished iron jewellery.
Noticeably, the woman in X’s video post is also wearing strings of beards as she fetches water.
Tribes, which have also written about the Ethiopian tribe, associate the Hamer tribe with their “intricate and colourful attire.” It further informs that the women are known for their distinct hairstyles and decorating the “ochre-dyed” dreadlocks with “vibrant beads and shells.”
DUBAWA also investigated previous reports of good water inaccessibility in Ethiopia, which suggests that Ethiopian residents fetch water from shallow pits.
An American study reveals that Ethiopia’s rural regions face inadequate water sources. It further mentions that over half of Ethiopia’s 85 million population do not have access to safe drinking water, and a majority face a daily burden of accessing safe water.
Moreover, according to The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organisation addressing poverty and hunger, safe water is in relatively shallow ground in several areas of Ethiopia, but the water supply is easily contaminated.
Conclusion
The claim is false. Findings reveal that the video is linked to Ethiopia.
