Last Tuesday, a video went viral on social media platforms claiming that hundreds of youth in Kano State were protesting against the ongoing demolitions by the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
WikkiTimes had earlier in a series of reports, documented how the Kano State Government demolished multi-million properties illegally built “on government land.” The governor said his predecessor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, allocated the land to his cronies.
The demolished structure includes a three-story building with 90 shops located at Nasarawa GRA, shops built along the fence of Sani Abacha Stadium at Kofar Mata, and buildings by GGSS Dukawuya, Goron Dutse.
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On June 20, a Twitter user, with over 40,000 followers, Comr. Abiyos Roni tweeted a 30-second video saying several youths protested unlawful demolitions of houses and buildings in Kano State.
“KANO ON FIRE 🔥🔥,” he tweeted. “Hundred thousands of youths protesting against the Kano government unlawful demolitions of houses and buildings.”
As of press time, the tweet has generated over 750 reactions, 95 quotes and 325 retweets.
Commenting on a report by The Parallel Facts, another Twitter user, also tweeted the same video on June 21, with the same caption.
The video had garnered 14 viewers as of press time.
The short clip was also shared on TikTok by one Comr. Aliyu Izala Plus. The video garnered 157 reactions and 45 replies as eight users saved the video while 10 shared it. In the video, several protesters held up their placards, shouting God is great. However, the inscription on the placards could not be read due to the poor quality of the footage.
VERIFICATION
WikkiTimes could not fact-check the clip using Invid, a verification toolbox used for analysing contextual information of a Youtube or Facebook public video. Invid states that “Twitter video analysis is deprecated due to a change of policy.”
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However, the same video was posted on Facebook but when we subjected it to checks, Invid, says: “We cannot process this video. Please note also that Facebook does not allow us to process videos from Users or Groups.”
WikkiTimes took a screenshot of the video and subjected it to checks on Google Lens, a fact-checking used for verifying pictures. The results showed two stills similar to the one under check. One of them traced back to 2017, when traders in Farm Centre, Kano State, staged a protest.
The other one linked to a report of how Kano residents protested against former President Muhammadu Buhari when he visited the state before he left office.
WikkiTimes also contacted some residents of Kano State including journalists with various platforms in the state, but they said there was nothing of such. The last protest that rocked Kano was when members of All Progressives Congress (APC), an opposition party in Kano, stormed the premises of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to challenge the outcome of the last gubernatorial election that produced New Nigeria Peoples Party’s Yusuf as the governor.
VERDICT
The claim that youths protested against Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf over the recent demolitions is false and the video attached to it is misleading.
