On Wednesday, June 7, 2023, a Twitter user Eons Intelligence (@eonsintelligenc) had on June 7, 2023, posted a video on Twitter, saying commercial motorcyclists in Garoua, Cameroon were protesting the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Also, a YouTube channel, Thisweekngtv posted the same video with the title “Commercial motorcyclists in Cameroon protest over the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria.” The video which was posted the same day has generated over 8,000 views and likes.
VERIFICATION- Did Commercial motorcyclists in Garoua, Cameroon protest the removal of the petrol subsidy?
A reverse image search of key frames from the video clip did not generate any helpful links but a closer look at the video revealed that it contained a Titok handle stamp, which is characteristic of videos downloaded from TikTok.
A look at the TikTok account (@hammaddoja7) indicated on the video showed that the video was uploaded on June 3, 2023, a few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy.
A translation of the video as published by The Cable read as follows; “We are commercial motorcycle riders in Cameroon. The hike in petrol price would force us to stop this work.
“The subsidy removal in Nigeria has affected our petrol price by inflicting untold hardship on the poor in the country.”
BUT were the protesters criticizing President Tinubu?
The translation provided by The Cable did not include criticism of President Tinubu. Rather, the protesters said the subsidy removal in Nigeria has affected their petrol prices by inflicting untold hardship on the poor in the country.
It reads in part, “The subsidy removal in Nigeria has affected our petrol price by inflicting untold hardship on the poor in the country.”
CONCLUSION
The commercial motorcyclists in Garoua, Cameroon were indeed protesting the removal of petrol subsidy. However, there is no evidence to support the claim that they were specifically criticizing President Tinubu. Hence, the verdict on the protest in Garoua, Cameroon is PARTLY TRUE.
