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Claim: A Facebook post claims that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, is currently admitted to the hospital for health issues.
Verdict: False! Contrary to the claim, DUBAWA’s research reveals the photoshopped image is a picture of Nigerian photojournalist Mr Smart-Cole, who was hospitalised in 2018 when he was manhandled by former president Muhammadu Buhari’s security men.
Full Text
Over the years, there have been speculations that President Bola Tinubu, the incumbent Nigerian president, has a health problem that accounted for his frequent foreign trips.
One such post about his unknown ailment is a picture posted on Facebook on Oct. 11, 2024, by a user named Sokoto Birni. The photo shows President Tinubu purportedly receiving medical treatment in an unidentified hospital.
“To Allah, we belong, and to Him, we shall return. The strongest source is that it moves but slowly,” the claimant captioned the post.
As of Friday, Oct. 19, 2024, the post has amassed over five likes, 10 comments and 100 shares with several users praying for Mr Tinubu’s good health in the comment section.
DUBAWA checks show that the post has now appeared on multiple accounts on the social media platform, including X. See here, here, here, and here.
The personality involved and the controversial nature of the claim warranted this verification.
Verification
A quick Google Reverse Image Search on the Facebook image shows that it was taken in 2018.
The picture was taken when Sunmi Smart-Cole, a former photojournalist with ThisDay newspaper, was discharged after a week-long admission in a Lagos hospital.
According to TheGuardian newspaper, Mr Smart-Cole had earlier been admitted for the treatment of injuries he sustained from the presidential security men who manhandled him during the former president, Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Lagos on March 29, 2018.
The pictures taken at the time were posted here, here and here.
Finally, DUBAWA scoured media reports and found that when the post was made, Mr Tinubu was in Paris, France, on work leave. TheCable and Channels TV reported this development.
DUBAWA contacted Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesperson, for comments but has yet to respond at press time.
Conclusion
The claim that President Tinubu is currently in a hospital bed for medical attention is false. The picture accompanying the claim has been online since 2018.
