Footage does not show Nigerians planning protest in support of Miss SA contestant

“Nigerians in South Africa say that they are planning to protest and fight if their Nigerian Chidina (sic) is disqualified from entering Miss South Africa pageant, even if it means through blood and sweat,” reads an X post published with a video on July 31, 2024.

The footage, taken at night, shows a group of men, some in West African attire, preparing to have a big meal. A man addresses the group in Igbo and says the word “protest” several times in the short clip. 

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on August 6, 2024

The post’s caption also claims the men said they had the backing of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) — a radical leftist party which won 39 parliamentary seats in the South African presidential elections held on May 29, 2024.

The EFF is often associated with immigration issues because of its favourable stance on pan-Africanism and dismantling borders on the continent (archived here).

The party condemned “afrophobic attacks” against Adetshina but it did not announce any support for such a protest (archived here).

Unrelated footage

AFP Fact Check’s Nigeria correspondent confirmed the men in the video are speaking Igbo and sarcastically lauding Tinubu’s leadership.

“We are protesting against the leadership of Tinubu. We are having our protest here. Protest of one person, one full chicken. His leadership favours us. We Igbos say Tinubu’s leadership is good…The highest protest you can ever see.”

There is no mention in the video of either the Miss South Africa beauty contest or Adetshina.

Igbo people are primarily from southeastern Nigeria and are traditionally subsistence farmers (archived here).

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – a separatist group pushing for independence in Nigeria’s southeast region – warned Igbo people on July 31, 2024, against joining anti-Tinubu protests planned for August, not as a show of support for the president but rather to further their calls for a referendum on secession from the country (archived here). 

Nigerian security forces cracked down on rallies spurred by economic hardship after thousands of people began taking to the streets on August 1 to protest government policies and the high cost of living (archived here).

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Protestors hold a placard as they gather behind barbed wire during the End Bad Governance protest in Abuja on August 1, 2024 (KOLA SULAIMON / AFP)

Pageant controversy

As reported by AFP, Adetshina, 23, who was due to compete in the Miss South Africa finals this weekend, suffered a torrent of online abuse over her Nigerian heritage (archived here).

She previously told local media she was born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a South African mother of Mozambican descent.

Her participation in the pageant stoked anti-foreigner sentiment in the nation, which has witnessed violent, and at times deadly, attacks on immigrants in the past. 

On August 7, the pageant was thrown into further turmoil when the government accused Adetshina’s mother of fraud and identity theft.

An investigation into her citizenship by the Home Affairs ministry uncovered “prima facie indications” that Adetshina’s mother might have committed fraud and stolen the identity of a South African woman after the Miss SA hopeful was born, the ministry said (archived here).

“Reasons exist to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the person recorded in Home Affairs records as Chidimma Adetshina’s mother,” said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber. 

The ministry said it was obtaining legal advice on the implications for Adetshina’s citizenship, adding the contestant did not participate in the alleged unlawful actions as she was an infant at the time.

A day later, Adetshina announced her withdrawal from the competition (archived here).

“I have made the difficult decision to withdraw myself from the competition for the safety of my family and I,” she wrote on Instagram.