Nigeria: Video of Police Officers Running From Protesters Shot in Kenya, Not Nigeria's Kaduna State

22 August 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Muktar Balogun

Video of police officers running from protesters shot in Kenya, not Nigeria's Kaduna state

IN SHORT: A video has been posted on Facebook with the claim it shows Nigerian police running away from protesters in Kaduna state. But the video appeared online weeks before protests began in Nigeria in August 2024.

"Police on the run as protesters chase the with stones in Kaduna," reads the caption of a video posted on Facebook.

The video shows what appear to be a group of police officers running away from a group of people throwing stones at them.

From 1 to 10 August 2024, Nigerians took to the streets to protest against bad governance and economic hardship.

In Kaduna state in northern Nigeria, violence erupted and shops were looted as protesters demanded the removal of president Bola Tinubu. A 16-year-old boy was also shot dead when soldiers clashed with demonstrators. On 5 August, the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew, saying the protests had been "hijacked by criminal elements". The curfew was later relaxed.

The same claim and video also appeared here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)

But does the video show Nigerian police running away from protesters? We checked.

Video likely shows Kenyan protests

Africa Check took keyframes from the video and ran them through Google reverse image search.

We found that the circulating video was part of a longer one posted on YouTube on 16 July 2024, with the headline: "Armed Rogue police officers run for their safety after greetings from Gen Z's."

The YouTube video was posted by Rogers Kakasungura in Kenya, who claims to be a journalist. In the video, he also speaks of "enmity between the Kenyan police and the protesters".

We also found the same video posted on TikTok on 4 July, with the caption: "Protesters vs Police in Emali."

Emali is a town situated along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway in Kenya.

Kenya has been rocked by anti-government protests since 18 June. The protesters have largely been young people, widely referred to by local and international media as Generation Z or Gen Z.

While Africa Check could not confirm the details, it seems likely that the video was shot in Kenya. It was posted online by Kenyan social media users weeks before the Nigerian protests began.

The same claim was posted here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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