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Claim: An X user, in a now pulled-down video, claims an act of cannibalism is going on in the South East, Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading. The video is a behind-the-scenes video from the 2018 Nigerian movie Omambala, which shows award-winning special effects makeup artist Hakeem Onilogbo heating bloodied prosthetic human parts.
Full Text
Over the years, ethnic conflict and bigotry have hindered peaceful coexistence in Nigeria, leading to tribalism and starkly reflecting ethnic discrimination. The country’s heterogeneous cultural layout, with over 300 ethnic groups and 500 languages, has contributed to this ethnic intolerance.
On Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, an X user, Yemi Titilola (@yemit06), shared a video showing a pot with meat purported to be human flesh being boiled, claiming it is a recent situation ongoing in Southeast.
Along with the barely half-a-minute video post reads, “In sad east.”
As of Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, the video had amassed about 91,000 views, 26 likes, 33 bookmarks, 14 reposts, and seven quotes. An overview of the comment section indicated that users believed the video was to be filmed in Cameroon.
“You took a video that happened in Cameron to blackmail Igbos,” RichardDike6 wrote.
“A video that took place in Cameron is what you are using to foolishly spread falsehood against igbos?” CliffyTempa asserted.
Another user TeddyReign, said, “This is Cameron. You must use a fake video.”
Due to the sensitive nature of the claim and the controversy in the comment section, DUBAWA decided to verify the context and veracity of the video shared.
Verification
We extracted keyframes from the clip and conducted Google Reverse Image Searches. One of the results led us to a similar video posted on X on Jun. 23, 2018.
Further searches show a similar video posted on Instagram by Hakeem Effect on June 17, 2018. The caption that accompanied the video reads, “This is a prosthetic body part for a movie… special effects makeup..” Omambala is a movie written and directed by Austin Nnaemeka. Its cast includes Mr Onilogbo as a special effect makeup artist. The film was shot in Calabar, Nigeria, by Khing Line Production in 2018.
We also found another similar Instagram video posted by Hakeem Effect, also known as Hakeem Onilogbo, in 2018. This video featured the same man with the pot on the fire in the main video. In this video, he debunked the claim that the original video was real, clarifying that it was actually from a movie set.
Moreover, in a Punch report dated Dec. 18, 2018, Mr Onilogbo was interviewed on the inspiration behind his unique make-up effects in movie productions.
Social media adverts about the movie were posted on Facebook and X in 2018, here and here, respectively.
Conclusion
The video clip is a behind-the-scenes look at a 2018 Nollywood movie, Omambala.
