On Wednesday, during the annual Children’s Day celebration, #BringBackOurStudents gained traction on X as Nigerians used the occasion to express outrage over the continued captivity of the Ogbomoso schoolchildren abducted on May 15.
Posting two pictures on X, a user identified as Abu Aisha wrote: “@wizkidayo These are not children in Somalia, Haiti, Lebanon, Darfur or Gaza, these are children from Oyo State being kidnapped for 14+ days now, their only crime was going to school to acquire knowledge. The government failed them. Speak out #BringBackOurStudents.”
Some other X users, as seen here, here, here, and here, also shared different pictures to depict the alleged current conditions of the abducted victims.
These viral pictures were shared in response to the Children’s Day message from Oluremi Tinubu, the president’s wife.
In one image, children could be seen kneeling on a sandy floor. One of them, whose back faced the camera, had several dark scars, bruises, and fresh wound marks visible across his back and shoulders, with some appearing blood-stained. Others sat beside him in what appeared to be a makeshift setting.
In another image, a child was seen with swelling and injuries on his face, including wound marks around his eye, cheek, and lips, alongside blood stains on parts of his face and head.
The child also appeared physically weak and distressed.
@Toochukwu of Divine Mercy wrote: “These children too deserve to be happy. Pls Ma, tell Mr President that there is no food for him until he has #BringBackOurStudents.”
As of the time of filing this report, the post had garnered over 7,400 views on X.
Also commenting on the First Lady’s post, AYO@sepril23NG shared a video in which a woman was lamenting the alleged maltreatment of the Oyo abducted victims, attaching the same viral pictures to the video.
The post had over 14,500 views and 42 reposts.
VERIFICATION
CableCheck ran the video through a reverse image search using Google Lens and found that the pictures had been online since July 2020.
Further checks traced the pictures to Air Info, a northern Nigerien blog that reports on events in the Sahel.
The blog published a report on June 7, 2020, noting that a marabout, a master of a Qur’anic school, was arrested in Diffa after he inflicted serious abuse on talibé children in his care.
“According to our colleague Lawan Boukar, based in Diffa, the teacher of the Qur’anic school was arrested by the police and the injured children were taken to a health centre for treatment,” the report reads.
The news outlet published six pictures of the abused children, including the two that have been used to depict the conditions of the abducted schoolchildren.
Further checks also showed that the same images had been posted on Facebook in June 2020, as seen here, where a user identified as Peter Mayuk used them to condemn the detainment, torture, and displacement of South Sudanese civilians in Khartoum.
VERDICT
The viral footage claiming to show Ogbomoso schoolchildren being maltreated in captivity is misleading.
The pictures originate from a Qur’anic school in Diffa, northern Niger Republic, in 2020 and have no connection to the Ogbomoso abduction.
Credit: TheCable
WARNING: If You Are Not 18+, Don’t Click The Link Below 👇🫣
Did you want to monetize your website, join MONETAG or ADSKEEPER and start earning
Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it.
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.
Never Miss A Single News Or Gist, Kindly Join Us On WhatsApp Channel:
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vad8g81Eawdsio6INn3B
Telegram Channel:
https://t.me/gistsmateNG
Have not commented on this like this before but this verification seems useless to me. The fact is that these children are still in captivity and nothing is done by to rescue them.
To the the verifiers, can you give us the details condition of this children in all ramifications? Can you verify this for us ?
What if the condition of this children are worst than the one you are verifying now?
Are you trying to tell us you are now working with terrorist as their solicitors?
This verification is useless.