IN SHORT: A ruptured pipeline did occur in Lagos state, but not in 2023, and videos circulating online date back to 2020.

A video circulating on Facebook claims that a pipeline has burst in a village called Aboru in Lagos state, southwest Nigeria.

A male voice speaking in Yoruba is dubbed over the video.

His words can be translated to: "Help us pass this information to the world. I am at Agabado Oke local government. Petrol is coming out of a pipeline at Aboru, Agbado Oke local government. They said it has been on for three hours. I can't get close to the location. Please help us share the video quickly. Sanwo-Olu help us. We can't die here. Before it gets worse, we have spoken out."

Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the governor of Lagos, the country's economic hub.

The video, posted on 25 July 2023, is accompanied by text that reads: "A pipeline leakage in Aboru village that calls for urgent attention of Lagos state government."

It also appears here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Oil spills are a controversial issue in Nigeria. But did this incident happen in 2023? And did it happen at the location mentioned in the video? We checked.

Video dates back to 2020

NNPC Ltd is responsible for managing and regulating Nigeria's oil and gas reserves.

On 26 July, the company warned that the video was old.

"The NNPC Ltd. wishes to inform the general public, especially communities in the Aboru axis of Lagos State, that a video in circulation on social media indicating a pipeline leakage in the area is three years old and should thus be disregarded in its entirety," it tweeted.

"Further scrutiny of the mischievously recycled video also revealed that the incident occurred in July 2020, close to the Atlas Cove-Mosimi on the System 2B pipeline, which has not been operational in 2023 and currently contains only water."

The statement was signed by the firm's chief corporate communications officer, Garba Deen Muhammad.