A video purporting to show hundreds of youths in Kano State protesting and burning billboards ahead of nationwide protests against economic hardship in Nigeria has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter)......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
The 0:19 seconds footage showed angry youths burning political billboards displaying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Kano Governor Abba Yusuf Kabir and Ado Ahmed. The protesting youths held placards but the inscription on the cards could not be read due to the poor quality of the footage.
An X user @EmmaMilleLJnr posted the claim on July 26, 2024, with a caption that reads; “Kano has started their protest. As I always said, the revolution that will change the trajectory of the country will start from Kano”.
The post has been viewed 30,800 times, reposted 136 times, quoted 35, liked 200 and bookmarked 17 times as of press time.
The claim was widely shared as seen here and here.
CLAIM
Kano Youths Protesting Ahead Of Nationwide Protest Against Hardship In Nigeria
FINDINGS
Findings by THE WHISTLER show that the claim is misleading.
When THE WHISTLER subjected screenshots of the footage to Google Lens, the result showed that an earlier version of the clip was uploaded on a YouTube channel one week before the said ongoing protest in Kano city.
Further, a keyboard search showed that “Just Event Online Publication” tweeted the same footage on X on May 24, 2024, stating that some residents of Gaya in Kano staged a protest against the dissolution of their emirate by the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The caption reads, “Residents of Gaya in Kano State on Sunday took to the streets to protest against the dissolution of the Gaya Emirate by state govt
“The 19 seconds video obtained by Just Event Online TV shows hundreds of Youths are showing displeasure over the state government’s action”.
VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Kano youths protesting over economic hardship is MISLEADING; as findings show that the video was recorded when residents of Gaya protested over the dissolution of five emirates by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf which included their monarch, Aliyu Ibrahim in May 2024.
