Mass protests broke out in Nigeria in August as anger grew over the high cost of living and government policies. Amid the tensions, a video surfaced online claiming angry protesters were throwing rocks at security guards. However, the claim is false; AFP Fact Check found that the video has been online since July 4, 2024, and was filmed in Kenya, which has also been the scene of anti-government demonstrations in recent months.
On August 6, 2024, a X account shared a video showing uniformed security guards climbing into a truck and driving away after being chased by a rock-throwing crowd.
“Police on the run as protesters chase them with stones in Kaduna (Like this), reads the caption of the video, which has been viewed more than 350,000 times and shared 1,500 times.
A Facebook post claimed the clip showed police being chased in Kaduna during a 24-hour curfew imposed in the city, the capital of Kaduna State in northwestern Nigeria.
The same claim was repeated elsewhere on Facebook, including here, here And here.
Nigerian protests
Thousands of Nigerians took part in demonstrations across the country on August 1, 2024, to protest unpopular government policies and the high cost of living (archived here).
The demonstrations turned violent, with human rights organization Amnesty International accusatory security forces of killing at least 21 protesters. Police deny responsibility (archived here).
In Kaduna, looting and vandalism of public and private property was witnessed, forcing the state government to impose a 24-hour curfew in the capital and metropolis of Zaria (archived hereThe curfew was later relaxed.
While security guards enforced the curfew on the streets, video circulating on social media shows no violence in Kaduna or elsewhere in Nigeria.
Kenyan protests
AFP Fact Check analyzed the clip for visual elements to geolocate the event. The first two clues were the uniforms of the security guards and the truck in which they drove away.
The jungle green combat suit resembles that of the Kenyan police, while the license plate on the truck begins with “GK” – a reference to the “Government of Kenya” – which is used by Kenyan security officials.
Although Nigerian soldiers wear a similar uniform to Kenyan police, the video shows one officer carrying a shield with the words “police” written on it, indicating that they are not part of the military.
We also compared images captured by AFP of police officers during protests in Kenya and Nigeria.
Simon MAINAKola SulaimonAFP
The uniforms of the Kenyan police are green, while the uniforms of the Nigerian police are grey with black accents.
The language spoken in the footage provided further evidence.
About 30 seconds into the clip, a woman can be heard saying, “Look at that” in Kamba, one of Kenya’s local languages, spoken mainly in the eastern region.
An AFP Fact Check was performed using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify reverse image search on multiple keyframes. The investigation led to a video that was published on July 16, 2024 on the YouTube channel of an account called Kamba Nation (archived here).
According to the channel, the clip shows protesters in Emali, a region in eastern Kenya, chasing police officers during anti-government protests.
“Emali GenZ overpowers the police and this is the current situation (sic),” the caption reads.
Another search on YouTube yielded a longer videowith more clues, which helped us locate it exactly in the right area (archived here).
Within the first few seconds we see four arched roofs of a building on the side of the road before the camera pans to the white truck and police car. The same skyline of hills is visible in the background.
We found the location on Google Maps and saw that it was Emali in Kenya.
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Further investigation on social media revealed that the video was shared in the same context in Kenya on July 4. X And TikTokIt reappeared in July 16 And 17.
On those dates, demonstrations took place in Kenya, with local media reporting that the demonstrators in Emali barricaded the main road (archived here And here).
In June, Kenyan youth began protesting an unpopular financial bill, which President William Ruto later withdrew.
The demonstrations developed into broader anti-government protests, which continue to take place sporadically.
