Amid calls from Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu to end protests over rising living costs, a video began circulating online claiming that the government was donating bags of rice to protesters as an incentive to stop. However, this claim is false; the video predates the recent protests and in fact shows a charity event by the foundation of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
On August 5, 2024, a video was shared showing a crowd wearing white bags on their heads. after on X next to the caption “The government of Nigeria has distributed rice to people and asked them not to protest.”
The video has now been viewed a million times and shared more than 4,000 times.
The same claim was repeated on Facebook (see here, here And here).
Nigerian protests
The claim began circulating a day after the president made a televised speech calling on protesters to suspend demonstrations and end the “bloodshed,” while organizers vowed to continue the protests.
According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, at least 21 people have been killed. killed by police during the protests, but security forces have denied responsibility (archived here).
On August 1, 2024, the demonstrations dubbed #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria began, with thousands of people taking to the streets to protest the rising cost of living and government policies.
Africa’s most populous country is facing its worst economic crisis in a generation after reforms Tinubu implemented last year.
Food inflation is now over 40% and gasoline prices have tripled.
Although the police have cracked down on the protests, the claim that the video shows a government donation of rice to protesters as an incentive to end the demonstrations is false. The video has nothing to do with these recent events.
Charity campaign
Using the video verification tool InVid-WeVerify, we have reverse image search on multiple key frames and the same video found shared in a after on X on April 17, 2024 (archived here).
According to the report, the video shows a fundraising campaign by the foundation of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
“Even the government can’t achieve this. All thanks to Aliko Dangote Foundation, the foundation is really committed to the poor people of this country, the aid has reached Yoruba land. May Allah bless Hajiya Fatima Dangote for this great work. This is really beautiful (sic)”, the message reads.
Our research further revealed that a similar image was used in an article on the Aliko Dangote Foundation website (archived here).
“Dangote’s million-bag rice aid package: spreading joy and alleviating hardship,” reads the article’s title.
Several elements in the photo match elements in the video shared online. These include a building with a long, thin roof, a blue window and a striking gray building in the background.
Additionally, 12 seconds into the video, at the bottom left of the screen, we see the words “Dangote Foundation” printed on a white bag of rice.
Anthony Chiejina, spokesperson for Dangote Group, confirmed to AFP Fact Check that the video did indeed depict a charity event by the foundation that took place between March 10 and April 9.
“It is a distribution that we did during Ramadan. We distributed rice to the vulnerable, the poor, all over the country for half a month,” Chiejina said.
Chiejina also sent an AFP Fact Check press release issued on August 5 by Lagos Food Bank Initiative, an NGO through which the Aliko Dangote Foundation carried out the rice distribution in April.
In the document, the organization criticizes the spread of the same false claim by an Instagram user named Instablog Naija, who has since deleted the post.
“The video in question was recorded during a food distribution event in Ajeromi Ifelodum LGA under the National Food Distribution Programme in partnership with the Aliko Dangote Foundation in April 2024,” the statement said.
“The misrepresentation by Instablog Naija has caused unnecessary public concern and cast the Lagos Food Bank and the Aiko Dangote Foundation in an unfavourable light, indicating bias in the ongoing protests.”
The NGO’s president, Dr. Michael Sunbola, confirmed to AFP Fact Check that it owned the images.
“We actually recorded the video and we only found out a few days ago that there were some misattributions in the video.”
We found the same video on the organization’s website Instagram pagewhere it was published on April 6, 2024 (archived here).
“Today is a great day as we celebrate another milestone in our journey of impact for the benefit of low income communities and families in Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA earlier today in partnership with @alikodangotefoundation,” the caption reads.
