Did Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara Dump Bread On a Bare Floor For People?

By Mustapha Lawal

Claim

A verified X (formerly Twitter) user with the handle (@Austinokai) Identified as a PDP House Of Representative Candidate For Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency of Kogi state claimed that Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara dumped bread on a bare floor for people to scramble for it as if they were dogs. 

The tweet was posted as a caption to a video with the added text “Live in Ilorin; Hungry (Hunger) dey Nigeria” and a TikTok video tag of @tobytwerk.

The scene of the video shows a crowd descending on the food kept in the facility in a disorderly manner.

As of the time of filing this report, the tweet has been viewed over 28,000 times, with 200 reposts, 65 comments, 92 likes and 18 bookmarks.

Verdict

Misleading! The video is an old video shot on 17th January, 2023 during a presidential campaign rally in Ilorin. The scene was from the moment when the crowd of party faithful descended on the food kept in the facility for them, in a disorderly manner.

Full Text 

A verified X (formerly Twitter) user with the handle (@Austinokai) Identified as a PDP House Of Reps Candidate For Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency of Kogi state (Comrade Austin Okai) claimed in a captioned video tweet that the APC government (with specific mention of the Gov. AbdulRahman AbdelRasaq of Kwara) had landed Nigerians in turmoil and is treating citizens as if they were dogs by dumping food on a bare floor for people to scramble.

In the exact words of the tweet he made at about 10:51 am on the 23rd of February 2024, he claimed that “Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara dumped bread on a bare floor for people to scramble for it as if they were dogs.

“This is incredible and unacceptable. Where do we start from? This is where the APC landed Nigerians. Hunger everywhere” Comr. Austin Okai tweeted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account. The tweet as of the time of this report has garnered over 28,000 views, 200 reposts, 65 comments, 92 likes and 18 bookmarks.

This claim appeared a few days after FactCheckAfrica’s earlier debunking of the claim of a protest at the emir’s palace in the same state, which was widely circulated on social media platforms, this new claim of a protest is causing further confusion and uncertainty.

The initial protest claim generated significant attention and concern among the public, with many people expressing worry about the potential for unrest and instability in the area. However, FactCheckAfrica’s thorough investigation, which involved verifying sources, analysing, and examining visual evidence, revealed that the claim was false and that there had been no such protest.

This situation highlights the need for critical thinking and careful evaluation of information, especially in an era where false or misleading information can spread quickly and widely through social media and other online platforms. Individuals must seek out credible sources and verify information before sharing or believing it, to avoid contributing to the spread of misinformation. Additionally, media organizations and social media platforms have a responsibility to combat misinformation and promote accurate and reliable reporting.

Verification

FactCheckAfrica searched keyframes from the video on Google Reverse Image search and found several postings of the video in blogs and social media platforms in the past indicating that the video is not a recent one. We found that the video was recorded on the 17th of January 2023 during the APC presidential campaign rally in Ilorin, Kwara state.

According to Glamtush, one of the blogs that had earlier posted the video, they gathered that a controversial crossdresser, Toby Twerk recorded the video from the campaign ground to emphasize the hunger situation in Nigeria at the time in 2023.

The recorder was seen at the beginning of the video running commentary as people were captured on camera trooping in their numbers to get their share from a heap of bread loaves made available for supporters during an election campaign in Ilorin, Kwara State. Several blogs and social media accounts that posted the video in the past including Nairaland, Glamtush, and (@babaidris090 & @General_Oluchi) on X.

The original version of the video discovered, which can be found here also revealed that the video in the tweet has been cut out of the original to support the interest of the claimant.

Conclusion

Misleading! The video is an old video shot on 17th January, 2023 during a presidential campaign rally in Ilorin. The original version of the video discovered, which can be found here also revealed that the video in the tweet has been cut out of the original to support the interest of the claimant.