By Pascal Ibe
Claim
From Facebook to various WhatsApp groups, many Nigerians have posted a video showing what looks like the torture of people in body bags with a claim that these were twenty-two Igbo men hanged in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
A Facebook user, Bello Babatunde, posted this video alongside the claim that “22 Igbo men were ha*nged yesterday in Indonesia for drug trafficking. 🤦🤔
Some persons who commented on the post believed that this was true, while others queried how the poster got to know that these alleged twenty-two men were Igbos.
This claim has already spread across Facebook and WhatsApp groups
The Igbo tribe is one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Igbos reside in the southern part of the country.
Verification
First, this Fact Checker subjected keyframes from the video to a Google Image Reverse Search which led him to a YouTube channel of Mechanismus, a Spanish company that designs equipment and props for entertainment and cinematic purposes.
Check this video on their YouTube channel here
Checking the Mechanismus website, a statement there reads that the company’s purpose is to provide “Set of Bodies in the Bag – a horrifyingly realistic addition to any haunted house or horror attraction! These life-sized, bagged corpses create a chilling atmosphere, perfect for scare mazes, ghost trains, and immersive horror experiences.”
The company’s YouTube channel shared a similar advertising video with a caption that reads, “Halloween Animatronic prop – body in the bag for #hauntedhouse
See a similar video of this on their Instagram page.
Verdict
The video showing what looks like the torture of people in body bags alongside the claim that these were twenty-two Igbo men hanged in Indonesia for drug trafficking is MISLEADING. Findings indicated that this video was just an advertisement by Mechanismus, a Spanish company that designs equipment and props for entertainment and cinematic purposes.
