Verdict: FALSE
Sahara Reporters claimed in a news piece that Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, Nigeria Police spokesperson in Kano state, reposted 2011 photos to blackmail #Endbadgovernance protesters.
The news, published on August 1, 2024, stated that Abdullahi Haruna had initially posted the photos on August 7, 2011, as criminal suspects and recovered items. However, he allegedly reposted them on Thursday, claiming they showed nationwide #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protesters arrested in Kano for looting public properties under the guise of protest.
The news has been shared across social media including X (formerly Twitter) as the August nationwide protests continue.
The convener of #RevolutionNow and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) party in the 2023 general elections, Omoyele Sowore, also made the claim in an X post which had garnered over a million views as of when it was retrieved from the microblogging platform.
This was also shared on the famous Nairaland.
Claim: Nigeria Police spokesperson in Kano reposted 2011 photos to depict #EndBadGovernance protest in 2024.
Verification
To verify the claim, we checked the Facebook page of the Kano Police spokesperson where the photos were allegedly posted. We found that Haruna posted photos of unidentified persons arrested by the police with looted items on August 1, 2024.
In a separate post, the photos were attached to a press release issued by the Kano Police Command regarding the arrest of 269 individuals alleged to have engaged in destruction, violence, and looting of public properties during the #EndBadGovernance protest in the state.
Upon closer inspection, we found that the fallen police traffic control booth in one of the photos had the name of the incumbent Nigerian President, Tinubu, suggesting the photos are recent.
Furthermore, the image purporting to show the spokesperson’s Facebook post in 2011 appeared doctored, as the text baseline showing “7 August 2011” was inconsistent.
Further investigation revealed that Sahara Reporters reported the appointment of Abdullahi Haruna as Kano Police spokesperson in 2019. According to the report, dated January 28, 2019, Haruna was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as Cadet ASP on July 9, 2012, at the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano State. Daily Trust also reported the development in February 2019.
The CDD War Room found that the image purported to show the Police spokesperson’s Facebook post in 2011 was doctored. Moreover, Abdullahi Haruna was enlisted into the Nigeria Police as Cadet ASP in July 2012 and therefore couldn’t have made such a post in 2011.