AFP Nigeria

It's satire — a Pakistani man was not sentenced to death for farting during Ramadan prayers

Published on 21 May 2019 at 16:22Updated on 22 May 2019 at 11:47

An article shared by Nigeria’s ex-minister of aviation Femi Fani-Kayode, and thousands of others on Facebook and Twitter, claims that a man was sentenced to death in Pakistan for breaking wind in a mosque during Ramadan. This is false; the article in question was posted on a website that describes itself as satirical, but the joke has been lost in transit.

No, this former US astronaut did not say it was impossible to find oil in northern Nigeria

Published on 17 May 2019 at 17:08

Posts shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter have reported that Kathryn Sullivan, an American geologist and former NASA astronaut, has claimed that crude oil cannot be discovered in any part of northern Nigeria. We have had found no public record of any such statement. Sullivan says she did not make the comments and would not have done so as “the issue is well beyond my expertise and knowledge base”.

These are illegal guns seized in California — not Nigeria’s Kano state

Published on 17 May 2019 at 14:59

A picture shared more than 18,000 times claims to show guns seized by the Nigerian Customs Service in the northern state of Kano. This is false; the guns in the picture were confiscated in the US state of California.

No, the UN secretary-general hasn’t called on Nigeria to start teaching the Biafran anthem

Published on 15 May 2019 at 17:20

An article shared thousands of times on Facebook claims that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Nigeria to start teaching the Biafran anthem to citizens in preparation for the region’s secession from Nigeria. This is false; a spokeswoman for the UN secretary-general told AFP that Guterres made no such statement.

No, these photographs do not show killings by Fulani herders on Nigeria’s Abuja-Jos road

Published on 15 May 2019 at 15:58

A Facebook post shared tens of thousands of times claims to show the scene of killings carried out by Fulani herders on the Abuja-Jos road in central Nigeria. This is false; the photos were taken at the scene of the abduction of a traditional chief in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, in 2018 -- not on the Abuja-Jos road.

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