Amid calls by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu for protests against the rising cost of living to cease, a video began circulating online that claimed to show the government donating bags of rice to protesters as an incentive to stop. However, this claim is false; the video predates the recent demonstrations and actually shows a charity drive by the foundation of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
On August 5, 2024, a video of a crowd carrying white bags on their head was shared in a post on X alongside the caption “The government of Nigeria has distributed rice to people and has asked them not to protest.”
The video has since attracted one million views and been shared more than 4,000 times.
The same claim was repeated on Facebook (see here, here and here).
Nigerian protests
The claim started circulating a day after the president made a televised address urging protesters to suspend demonstrations and bring an “end to the bloodshed”, while organisers vowed to continue with the protests.
According to rights group Amnesty International, at least 21 people have been killed by police during the protests, but security forces have denied responsibility (archived here).
August 1, 2024, marked the beginning of the demonstrations dubbed #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria, which saw thousands of people throng the streets to protest the rising cost of living and government policies.
Africa’s most populous country is suffering its worst economic crisis in a generation following reforms brought in last year by Tinubu.
Food inflation is now over 40% and the price of petrol has tripled.
While police have significantly cracked down on the protests, the claim that the video shows a government donation of rice to protesters as an incentive to end the demonstrations is false. The video is unrelated to these recent events.
Charity drive
Using the video verification tool InVid-WeVerify, we conducted reverse image searches on multiple keyframes and located the same video shared in a post on X on April 17, 2024 (archived here).
According to the post, the video shows a donation drive by the foundation of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
“Even the government no do reach this one. All thanks to Aliko Dangote Foundation, the foundation is really trying for the poor people of this country, the help has reached Yoruba land. May Allah bless Hajiya Fatima Dangote for this great job. This is really beautiful (sic),” reads the post.
Our search further revealed that a similar image was used in an article on the Aliko Dangote Foundation’s website (archived here).
“Dangote’s million-bag rice relief: Spreading joy, alleviating hardship,” reads the title of the article.
Several elements in the photograph match elements in the video shared online. These include a building with a long thin roof, a blue-coloured window, and a distinctive gray building in the background.
Additionally, 12 seconds into the video, on the bottom left of the screen, we can see the words “Dangote Foundation” printed on a white bag of rice.
Anthony Chiejina, a spokesman at Dangote Group, confirmed to AFP Fact Check that the video was indeed of a charity drive by the foundation that took place between March 10 and April 9.
“It’s a distribution we did during Ramadan. We distributed rice to the vulnerable, the poor, all around the country during half a month,” Chiejina said.
Chiejina also sent AFP Fact Check a press release issued on August 5 by Lagos Food Bank Initiative, an NGO through which the Aliko Dangote Foundation carried out the rice distribution in April.
In the document, the organisation denounces the dissemination of this same false claim by a user on Instagram named Instablog Naija, who has since deleted the post.
“The video in question was recorded during a food distribution event in Ajeromi Ifelodum LGA under the National Food Distribution Programme in partnership with Aliko Dangote Foundation in April 2024,” reads the statement.
“Instablog Naija’s misrepresentation has caused unnecessary public concerns and had placed Lagos Food Bank and the Aiko Dangote Foundation in an unfavourable light, suggesting partiality in the ongoing protests.”
The NGO’s president Dr Micheal Sunbola confirmed to AFP Fact Check that it owned the footage.
“We actually shot the video and we just realised few days ago that some wrong attributions are made with the video.”
We located the same video on the organisation’s Instagram page, where it was published on April 6, 2024 (archived here).
“Today is a great day as we celebrate another milestone in our journey of impact serving low-income communities and families in Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA earlier today in partnership with @alikodangotefoundation,” reads the caption.