FACT-CHECK: As Claimed By Fani-Kayode, Was Picture Of Man Holding A Burnt Child From Oyo Community?Claim: A picture attached to a Twitter thread by former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode featured a man holding a burnt child. Fani-Kayode described the picture as a casualty from the Igangan crisis in Oyo State.
However, findings show that the picture was not from the Igangan crisis but from the Southern Cameroon (Ambazonian) genocide.
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On Saturday, suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded the Igangan community in the Ibarapa North area of Oyo State, killing no fewer than 10 residents.
SaharaReporters gathered that the herdsmen arrived at Igangan around 11:00 pm on Saturday and operated till around 3.30am on Sunday.
Also, houses and other property were burnt in the process.
The farmers/herders' clashes in Igangan generated public outcry after the murder of Fatai Aborode, a PhD holder and large scale farmer, who was purportedly killed by Fulani herdsmen.
The travails of many residents of the area had attracted the intervention of Yoruba Freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho), who ordered the eviction of the Fulani population from the town.
Sunday Igboho, in January, ordered Fulani people to leave Yorubaland within seven days.
He accused the Fulani community in the area of masterminding abductions, killings, and other criminal activities in the area.
He said, "Fulani cannot take over our land from us. We own our land and we won't allow anybody to take it from us. Some people are intimidating us but we won't succumb to their threat. For the Fulani living here, we are not fighting them, if they can live with us peacefully. Our fear is about Fulani taking over our land, kidnapping and killing our people...”
What followed was the burning of the house of the Seriki Fulani of Igangan, Salihu Abdulkadir, who was forced to leave the community after his settlement was allegedly set on fire by aggrieved youths.
Abdulkadir told SaharaReporters in Ibadan that he, his wives and children were sent out of the settlement, adding that 11 vehicles and houses were burnt in the process.
The recent attack attracted public outrage, with many people condemning the herdsmen invasion.
One of those who condemned the deadly attack on Igangan is the former aviation minister, who took to his Twitter page on Sunday.
However, the former minister, who is known for posting controversial contents used a misleading picture.
His tweet had garnered over 1, 800 likes, 1, 100 retweets and some quote tweets.
Also, the picture was used by a blog, radiobiafrafreedom on Monday, June 7, calling on the United Nations for support and captioning the picture as one from Nigeria. A caption of the picture on the blog reads, "Dear #UN, this picture is the handiwork of Fulani soldiers aiding Fulani herdsmen the brothers of Buhari and Amina J Mohamed NIGERIA@UN @UNHumanRights @UN_HRC @mbachelet @SecBlinken @IntlCrimCourt."
Checks by SaharaReporters have revealed that the image was from the Ambazonian crisis in Southern Cameroon.
With the use of Reverse image search, it is clear that the picture was originally captured in February 2021 from the crisis at Tiben, Batibo in British Southern Cameroon.
On a website, https://ambazoniagenocidelibrary.com/, a video captured the man, identified as Mr Ndi, holding a burnt baby while others around him mourned (https://videos.files.wordpress.com/YEf6wuoa/vid-20210211-wa00091_dvd.mp4). The report was dated February 17, 2021.
It stated that the baby was left behind by its parents after French Cameroun Bulubeti militias invaded Tiben, Batibo Subdivision (Moghamo Local Government) of the territory of British Southern Cameroon (Ambazonia) on 11 February 2021.
SaharaReporters also used InVid, a video verification platform that confirmed the authenticity of the video.
Conclusion
Findings showed that the picture of a burnt baby being circulated with claims it was captured from the Igangan crisis on Twitter is false. The picture was from a separate event in another country.
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: Saharareporters, New York
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FACT-CHECK: As Claimed By Fani-Kayode, Was Picture Of Man Holding A Burnt Child From Oyo Community?
July 24, 2017, 07:00:49 AM