FACT-CHECK: Was Tinubu’s son chased by protesters during a recent demonstration in Lagos as claimed by a content creator?

Claim: Protesters chased President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s son during a recent demonstration in Lagos State.

Verdict: False. The viral video is old; Tinubu’s son was not chased during the #EndBadGovernance protest last month.

Full Text:

A content creator on Facebook recently shared a video with a claim that protesters in Lagos State chased a son of the Nigerian president.

The 17-minute, 18-second clip was captioned: “Breaking news happening now live in Lagos, protesters chased Tinubu’s son as they chant Tinubu ole (sic).”

Recall that thousands of Nigerians across the country staged a 10-day demonstration (August 1–10) in reaction to the crippling cost-of-living crisis in Nigeria. The protest was, however, short-lived as security agencies shot teargas at protesters in some states while the protest snowballed into violence in some parts of the country.

READ ALSO:FACT-CHECK: Did Ebonyi Gov, Nwifuru, write SSCE as a House of Assembly member as viral post claims?

The video posted on September 5 on the page with 225,000 followers garnered over 100 reactions in less than 24 hours.

Ripples Nigeria observed that the video featured a protest scene, alongside commentary by the content creator.

Checking through the comment section, Ripples Nigeria also observed that many users retorted that there is hardship in the country, while the skeptical others asked which area of Lagos State the people were protesting.

The same video and similar claim have been posted on YouTube channels with a sum of over one hundred thousand subscribers.

Verification:

Ripples Nigeria observed that the video has a floating Tiktok handle on it. We traced the video to a handle (@okoro_comedy). The video was posted on August 1, 2024 — the first day of the protest last month.

It was observed that it is the same video that is being shared across social media pages, making it reach more people.

Meanwhile, using keyword searches, we found neither credible news reports of protesters chasing Tinubu’s son, nor of a protest in Lagos in September.

Conclusion:

The claim that protesters chased Tinubu’s son during a recent protest is false.

By: Quadri Yahya

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