Juliet Buna
On March 21, 2024, tragedy struck Madaka, a community situated at Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State as reports emerged of a deadly attack perpetrated by bandits in the community market. The incident resulted in the loss of an unspecified number of traders and customers.
In the wake of the attack, a picture began to circulate on social media platforms, purportedly showing the aftermath of the violence, with claims suggesting that over 30 individuals had been killed. The picture showed corpses lying on the ground and being wrapped with white clothes in preparation for burial.
An X user, I.G Kagara who posted the image, said that the corpses were being prepared for a mass burial which would take place on the outskirts of the community.
Ibrahim Kagara, another user who shared a similar image, lamented the attack and announced that the Islamic funeral rites for the deceased had been done.
The post has garnered 3,000 views and 47 reposts, accompanied by expressions of grief and prayers for the departed. N-VA conducted this fact check to verify the authenticity of the claim.
VERIFICATION
The fact-checker conducted a Google reverse image revealing the picture to have been on the internet for about three years. On June 12, 2021, a news report by the ICIR featured the picture under the headline, “Police deny reports that 60 persons were killed in Zamfara attack, say ‘only over 30’ died.”
Likewise, as seen here and here, the same image was used in two other instances to depict a tragic scene which purportedly occurred in Zamfara state, in 2021 and Katsina, in 2022.
CONCLUSION
The picture used to depict the purported killing in Madaka community, Niger State, is MISLEADING. It is an old image unrelated to the reported incident.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Crest 91.1FM, Ibadan and News Verifier Africa, to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
