AFP Nigeria

This video does not show Nigeria’s first lady locked up by her husband’s advisors

Published on 17 October 2019 at 19:10

A viral video claims to show Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari complaining after she was locked up in the presidential villa by a “cabal” around her husband for two months. The same video has been shared with many more different claims. We checked and found most of them to be misleading. Mrs Buhari has said the video was “old” and showed her in a dispute with some of her husband’s relatives.

Social media abuzz in Nigeria over supposed presidential wedding. Here is what we know.

Published on 15 October 2019 at 17:54

A viral story that has spread in Nigeria claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari was set to get married to the minister of humanitarian affairs on Friday October 11 at the central mosque in the capital Abuja. While some Nigerians reacted to the rumours as a joke, others appeared to treat them more seriously. They came on the back of speculation in the local media about the absence of the president’s wife Aisha Buhari from Nigeria.

This is a scam to get your details -- MTN is not giving 122gb to customers in Nigeria

Published on 15 October 2019 at 13:19

Numerous posts shared by hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook in Nigeria claim that telecommunications company MTN is giving away gifts -- including 122 gigabytes of mobile data, and iPhones -- to customers who type “MTN AWOOF” in the comments section, or obey some other instruction. This is false; MTN Nigeria told AFP the company is not running any such promotion, and asked Facebook users to disregard the fake Facebook pages.

Has Lake Chad shrunk as Nigeria’s president claimed?

Published on 11 October 2019 at 15:26

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria told the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York last month that the Lake Chad basin has shrunk significantly due to climate change, depriving many people of their livelihood in the region. Numerous Twitter users challenged the president’s statement by claiming research showed the lake was not shrinking. AFP checked the latest international report on the issue and found that while Lake Chad has shrunk significantly in the past, the shrinking has stopped in recent years.

No, a Nigerian man was not buried in this $90,000 car — it’s a scene from a movie

Published on 3 October 2019 at 16:29Updated on 4 October 2019 at 14:09

A picture has been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, as well as by major news outlets around the world, alongside claims that it shows a Nigerian man being buried by his son in a BMW X6 worth some $88,000. This is false; AFP has found that the picture was taken on the set of a film called “Social Club” shot in Nigeria.

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