By Pascal Ibe

Claim

An X user, @jominabuna2 shared images showing human skulls and claimed there’s a festival to celebrate it in Nigeria’s Southeast.

Verdict

This claim FALSE as photos are attached to the claim are MISLEADING and AI-generated.

Full Text

@jominabuna2 on the X platform has shared photos of human skulls and claimed there’s a festival to celebrate skull mining in Nigeria’s Southeast.

According to a post dated January 26th January, the X user wrote, “Yorubas don’t have a festival where skulls are out on display like they do in Igbo Land

“I ask again; Who are the real SKULL MINERS? ”

The post generated over 53k views and more than 600 likes, according to X analytics.

Igbos, one of the major three Nigerian ethnic groups in Nigeria, are settlers in the eastern part of the country.

Verification

Tracing the first photo showing men carrying a basket of human skulls, this Fact Checker, using Google Lens, discovered that this was an act of symbolism of war dance in the Ohafia culture.

Many Facebook pages and blogs have posted this photo since last 3 years ago.

Ohafia is a Local Government Area and community located in Abia State.

When contacted, an elderly man in the Ohafia community, Chief Nwabueze Kalu explained to FACTWATCH Nigeria in detail that the photo represents the war dancing tradition as the integral identity of the people of Ohafia.

Chief Kalu explained that the basket of human skulls is proof of a man’s courage and strength. Stating that only those who brought home a human head are eligible to join the Ogbu-Isi society.

“They wear an eagle’s plume which is a symbol of courage.

He told FACTWATCH Nigeria that the dance is performed to celebrate an individual’s achievaement.

According to the elderly man, the dance is headed by a lead dancer carrying a basket full of human skulls while holding a short cutlass and a small palm shot in his mouth.

However, he said the human skulls used are not real as they are crafted from wood.

With this in-depth explanation by an elderly from Nigeria’s Southeast, it is now very clear that the first image attached to the claim that there’s a festival to celebrate skull mining is MISLEADING, as it’s unrelated.

FACTWATCH Nigeria checked and found out that the second picture showing a human skull on the ground was AI-generated.

An AI-detecting tool, Sigbt Engine showed that the photo was AI-generated.

A closer look at the third image showed that it was edited and merged.

Conclusion

The X user deliberately used unrelated, AI-generated abs and edited images to push his FALSE claim about the human skull festival in Nigeria’s Southeast.