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FACT-CHECK: Viral Video Of Protesters Chasing Soldiers Away Not From Nigeria

A video which has been spreading across social media purports to show that protesters of #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria chased away Army with stones in Kaduna State of Nigeria.

An X user, @EmmaMillelJnr, posted the clip on his X handle on August 6, 2024, with a caption that reads:

“Soldiers on the run as protesters pursue them with stones in Kaduna. Truth be told, Nigeria has the most civil soldiers globally. The way some people are behaving as if they have two lives is scary. #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria”

The claim has been viewed over 25.9 thousand times, 212 reposted, 29 quoted, 280 liked and 36 bookmarked it as of press time.

The clip was also posted by another X verified account, @ElitesAfrica, with a caption that reads:

“Police on the run as protesters chase the with stones in Kaduna.

“President Tinubu | Peter ovi | UKRiots| igbos | Congratulations Nigeria|#endbadgovernmentinnigeria| Monday | Occupyabuja | leaked | Aso rock | Kano | Ojota | Lagos | SS and SE | Obasanjo | Dangote | Jos”.

The post has attracted 247.2k views as of August,6, 2024.

In the 57 seconds footage, the security officials could be seen hopping into their parked vehicle with a large crowd of protesters stoning and chasing after the police officers. Also, a shield left on the ground had an inscription of “Police” written over it.

CLAIM

Video shows protesters chasing army personnel with stones in Kaduna, Nigeria.

THE FINDINGS

Findings by THE WHISTLER show that the claim is false, as the video has been online prior to the hunger demonstration which started on August 1.

When THE WHISTLER subjected screenshots taken from the footage to Google Reverse Image search, the results show that earlier versions of the footage had been online since July,17, 2024.

On July, 17, 2024, an X user, @CaptainDominicO posted the same clip on his X handle with a caption; “Police officers were chased like dogs yesterday, Kenyans are tired 😫”.

Also, another X user, @Gideon_Kitheka posted the same video on July, 16, 2024 on his X handle that the incident happened in Emali Town of Kenya.

His caption on the video reads, “very unfortunate situation in Emali Town today”.

The video was part of a series of thread posted by the X users during Anti-Tax finance bill protests widely known by hashtag #RejectFinanceBill2024 in Kenya.

A YouTube channel similarly posted the same clip on July 17, 2024, showing that the incident occurred in Kenya. “Kenya: Polisi Yawakimbia Waandamanaji”, the caption of the YouTube channel reads.

When our fact-checker examined the clip, it was observed that Nigerian security officials do not dress like securities dressed in the video. Also, the vehicle and plate number in the video do not look like Nigerians’ security plate number.

VERDICT

The claim that the video showed Kaduna protesters chasing Soldiers away is MISLEADING. Findings show that the video is not from Nigeria but emanated from Kenya during the finance bill protest which occurred July, 2024.

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