No evidence Fulani herders set market on fire in Nigeria's Plateau state in April 2025
IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claim that Fulani herders set a market selling yams on fire in Plateau state, Nigeria. However, we found no evidence of this and the image used to support this claim has been online since 2021.
"Fulani herdsmen set fire on the largest yam market in the World located in the Plateau state, Nigeria," reads a message doing the rounds on social media in April 2025.
As evidence, the message includes an image of heaps of charred and smoking yams, a type of edible tuber eaten across West Africa.
The Fulani are a widely dispersed group of mainly Muslim cattle herders scattered across West Africa.
In Nigeria, Fulani have been accused of attacking communities, kidnapping, robbery and murder. But some Fulani communities, in turn, accuse the media of stereotyping them.
Plateau state is located in Nigeria's east-central zone and has a history of ethnic and religious conflict. According to Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency, 52 people were killed in the state between 27 March and 2 April.
The same claim appears here, here, here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)
But is it true that Fulani herders set a market on fire in Plateau state in April 2025, as the posts suggest? We checked.
Old image of market fire
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Clashes between Fulani herders and local farmers in Plateau state often receive wide media coverage. And that's why we found it strange that there were no reports of Fulani herders burning down the yam market in the area.
Instead, we found several reports of a 2 April incident, where over 40 people were killed when a group of armed men attacked several communities in the Bokkos local government area of Plateau.
Some of the Facebook posts claim that the yam market was set alight during the Bokkos attack. But none of the media reports about the attack mention this.
We also couldn't find a statement on such a market incident on the Nigerian police's social media accounts and website.
Africa Check ran the image through a Google reverse image search and discovered it had been online since April 2021. The photo shows the aftermath of a fire at Namu central market in Plateau state that destroyed goods, including yams.
We found no evidence to support the claim and the photo used as evidence first appeared online in 2021.
The false claim can also be found here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
