Fact-Check: Instablog9ja Shares Old Image (Now Deleted) to Depict Flood Situation in Ibeju Lekki 

BY: Oluwaseye Ogunsanya 

Claim

Instablog9ja posted an image of an area submerged in flood claiming that it’s from Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State. 

Verdict

False. The image is not recent and not from Ibeju Lekki, Lagos but Anambra State

Full Text

As the rainy season comes upon Nigeria, many parts of the country especially the coastal regions have been experiencing widespread flooding occasioned by frequent heavy downpour thereby leading to physical and material losses. 

According to a 2022 report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Nigerians lost about $9 billion in damages to deadly rains, recorded about 600 deaths, and displaced 2.8 million people from their communities and loved ones in various parts of the country.

Notably, business and commercial activities were brought to a standstill yesterday due to a 10-hour downpour in  many parts of Lagos and Ogun states. This made netizens take to social media to share videos and images of submerged roads and houses in their areas. 

One of such images was the one shared by popular blog, Instablog9ja (now deleted) claiming that the flooded area was Ibeju Lekki part of Lagos State. 

Other users have gone to share the image with the same claim.

FactCheckAfrica seeks to verify this claim with the intent of establishing the exact location of the submerged area in the image and when it was taken. 

Verification 

FactCheckAfrica subjected the picture to a reverse image search using Google lens. The result showed that the picture was attributed to a number of locations such as Kogi, Bayelsa as well as Anambra, making it difficult to ascertain. 

We however did a further search on Tineye, another reverse image search tool that indicates when a particular image was first posted online. The result showed the image in question watermarked by shutterstock, it was first found on December 19, 2022 and was tagged flooded African village, Anambra Nigeria. 

Corroborating this, we observed that an X page known as Ou Travel and Tour documented the pictures here in 2022 after visiting flooded communities of Anambra State. 

In 2022, the state experienced massive flooding, as over 300 communities in six local government areas were submerged. Apart from submerging of houses and farmlands in Anambra, critical infrastructure such as schools, healthcare centres, police stations, banks, and offices were also not left out; a situation which forced the state government to shut down schools affected by the flood and at the same time forced members of the affected communities to flee into various Internally Displaced Persons camps across the state.

Conclusion 

As the post made by Instablog9ja has been deleted, it is important to note that the image is not recent and not from Ibeju Lekki, Lagos but Anambra State. We urge the public to desist from sharing unverified information at this critical period.

Edited by: Habeeb Adisa