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Claim: A video making the rounds on social media claims that a Nigerian internet fraudster has barked to death in Ogbomosho, Oyo State.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s investigation has established that the video has been recirculating online since 2019 and is used by social media users for different narratives. However, the video material is originally a scene from a movie.
Full Text
Alongside technological advancement and digital breakthroughs internet fraud has also been a recurring reality with a rampant increase of arrested fraudsters in Nigeria.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2024, an X user, @Pirtim, posted a video of an unnamed young man, suspected to be an internet fraudster, barking like a dog to death in his home premises at Ogbomosho, Oyo State.
“Yahoo boy in Ogbomoso died barking like a dog in his mansion…” Part of the post reads.
The post generated 38,000 views, 120 reposts and 190 comments at the time of this writing on May 28, 2024. In the comment section, some agreed with the claimant’s post, while others argued that he was being used to spread fake news.
An X user said: “This happened almost 5 years ago, and it is filmmaking.”
Another X user, Sammy UgoNabo, wrote: “Seems like a skit. Even death from rabies doesn’t happen this way. Internet people always (circulate) misinformation.”
Pitying the alleged deceased person, Omotunde, a user on the application, said: “Oh dear…and they are watching without helping.”
DUBAWA’s investigation shows that the video has been posted on other social media platforms, as seen here, here and here.
DUBAWA decided to probe the claim because of the evident mixed reactions it has generated under the comment section.
Verification
A keyword search showed that the video first surfaced online in 2019.
A similar version was uploaded to the Facebook page of Opeyemi Entertainment Promotions UK, which shows a similar scene of a young man barking, camera operators and other crew members on a movie set.
Furthermore, we conducted a reverse image search of multiple frames from the video and found a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) debunking the claim.
According to the outlet, the video was originally uploaded on Instagram by Nollywood actor King Patto, who was also featured. The same clip was posted on Instagram by Damilola Adekoya, the film’s producer, who stated that it is a movie titled “Olajimi,” set to be released then.
Conclusion
Based on our findings, DUBAWA confirms that the video is not recent and has been cut out from a movie about internet fraud. Hence, the claim is false.
