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The continuous spread of falsehood across social media and other platforms shows verification and media and information literacy are more critical now than ever.
Here’s a breakdown of the claims diligently scrutinised and fact-checked by DUBAWA in the last week.
- Liberia minister made false claim about country’s HIV rate in Africa
During the week, the House of Representatives in Liberia invited the Minister of Health, Dr Louise Kpoto, and Liberia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Catherine Cooper, amid conversations on the health crisis in the West African country.
The plenary had queried the health officials on the reasons for the increased rate of maternal death, the alleged charging of patients to pay certain fees before they could be catered for at public health facilities, and the reassignment of Medical Doctors to the position of County Health Officers.
One of the representatives had particularly highlighted the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis amongst the young populace in recent times.
In her response, the Minister claimed Liberia has the lowest HIV/AIDS rate amongst other African Countries.
But our findings show that while Liberia is part of countries with HIV rates below 1%, it isn’t the lowest. Other African countries like Egypt and Algeria have 0.1% HIV/AIDS rate, and Liberia has 0.9%.
- TikTok video showing Haaland apologising to Arteta, manipulated
Sports misinformation is gradually increasing, particularly with the rising influence of Artificial Intelligence. Late last year, there was widespread media coverage of an altercation between Manchester City’s talisman Erling Haaland and Arsenal’s boss, Mikel Arteta, where he had asked the latter to “stay humble.”
But in an interesting turn of events in Feb 2025, Arsenal FC recorded a tremendous victory against Manchester City which resulted in mockery for the latter.
Recently, a TikTok user shared a video clip showing Haaland purportedly apologising to Arteta and his team during an interview.
In the viral clip, the Manchester City star referenced his comment urging the Arsenal boss to accept him into the team.
But DUBAWA’s analysis showed that the original video was a Sky Sports interview in which the player discussed the playing technicalities adopted in their 3-1 comeback win against Chelsea. The video clip shared by the TikTok user was found to be AI-generated. Read more here.
- Trump orders sale of African leaders’ properties, children’s deportation
After signing a flurry of executive orders on his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump has been a major subject of discussion on social media.
In particular, the administration’s policy on immigration had tickled the fancy of many Africans both at home and abroad, and as expected, false narratives around this policy have emerged.
One such was a claim widely shared on Facebook that Trump had ordered the sale of properties owned by African politicians in the US and called for the deportation of their children studying in the country.
However, our research showed no such policy introduced by the Trump administration.
- Claim Tinubu shut down Nigeria’s embassy in the U.S, false
After the US government announced strident policies against illegal migrants in the country, governments announced plans to take back illegal immigrants if and when they are deported from the U.S.
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, addressed the issue, but a Facebook user misinterpreted his remarks. The user falsely claimed that Tinubu had removed Nigeria from the U.S. stock market, withdrawn the country’s embassy from the U.S., blocked oil sales to the U.S., and shut down the Abuja State House in Washington, D.C.
DUBAWA contacted the news firm to enquire about its source of information and was directed to a report by Legit NG. Upon closer observation of the referenced report, we discovered the claimant had misinterpreted the news report. Instead, The Nigerian President said his government was ready to welcome those Nigerians who are expected to be deported.
- US Department of State makes false claim about trade ties with Panama
Amid concerns over rising tolls and China’s control of nearby ports, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, recently visited the Panama Canal as part of efforts to strengthen the trade relationship between the United States and the Panama government.
The 51-mile maritime shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans plays an important role in global commerce, hence the renewed interest by the Trump administration.
After Marco’s visit, the United States Department of State posted on its Facebook page that the government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal.
However, the Panama Canal Authority said it had not made any such adjustments. It noted its willingness to engage in dialogue with the relevant officials of the United States regarding the transit of military ships from that country. Read more here.
- Clove soaked in hot water does not treat female infertility
Amid the rising cost of medicines, many Africans increasingly turn to alternative remedies to treat various ailments.
Several Facebook accounts have circulated an image of cloves soaked in water, with captions claiming the mixture can cure female infertility and address other hormonal issues.
However, DUBAWA’s findings revealed that while cloves have shown potential to improve fertility in animal studies, further research was needed to determine their effects on human health. Notably, some studies indicated that cloves may worsen male infertility.
