By Pascal Ibe

Last week, Facebook and Instagram users shared a picture of a teenage boy on his knees and attributed it to an 18-year-old Anambra apprentice who allegedly impregnated 10 girls, including his master’s daughter and sales girl, in five months.

The story, which was first shared by the current Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ify Obinabo, via her Facebook page last week, has already gone viral.

According to Anambra Commissioner, “This boy was sent to learn a trade at the age of 18 and three months of apprenticeship, and he impregnated his master’s daughter and his salesgirl. He was sent packing. Two months after that, he impregnated eight other girls in the village.”

Social media is agog as many hail the teenager for his alleged actions.

Claim

Many people, blogs have posted an image of a boy with two girls standing by and attributed to be the Anambra 18-year-old boy.

A blog, Legit.ng, shared the photo with a caption that reads, “An 18-year-old apprentice in Anambra State allegedly impregnated ten girls within five months, including his master’s daughter and a salesgirl. Full story below.

“Photo credit – Victor Kaycee Onyendi/Facebook, Jose Luis/Getty images”

This photo was also published on Facebook and Instagram here and here.

Verification

This viral image was subjected to a Google Image Reverse Search, and it was first discovered that this photo trended in March 2024.

Social media users in Nigeria claimed here and here that it was a 14-year-old boy of JSS Secondary who allegedly impregnated two senior students in Asaba.

An X account from Cameroon also claimed in 2024 that the image depicts a 4th-grade student who impregnated two 5th-grade students at Djunang Bafoussam High School

However, FACTWATCH Nigeria found a fact check by DATACHECK, a Cameroonian platform, which revealed that its team visited Djunang High School, located on the Bafoussam-Bamendjou road, in the department of Mifi, West region of Cameroon on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Met at his office, Jules Marcel Simo, the general supervisor, said: ” The information that a student impregnated girls is purely false .” He added, ” I cannot tell you why these students were there at that precise moment, but their presence had nothing to do with the subject being discussed. It was a family matter. You can stick to this information. We cannot expose these children further. The girl’s father was present. But to say that the girl is pregnant (…), certainly, when he sees this on social networks, he will be surprised, even astonished. “

Reached by phone on March 21, 2024, Gabriel Talla, the father of the student accused of impregnating two girls, told DataCheck: “This information is false. Neither of the two girls is pregnant with my son.

“They don’t even know each other .” Gabriel, who says he remembers the day the photo was taken, returns to the circumstances that led to his son’s presence at the scene. ” This photo was taken in the censor’s office,” Gabriel Talla recalls. He adds: ” The real problem is that my son was summoned to the school’s disciplinary board for 26 hours of unjustified absence. He was assigned a five-day duty period. During this time, a father came with the other two girls for another problem. So someone present took advantage of this circumstance to take the photo before associating it with fabricated information to harm my son’s life (…) They did not come for the same problem .”

On the reasons for the two girls’ presence there, Gabriel Talla explains: ” One of the girls had run away from home to take refuge with one of her friends. The two girls came to find my son on his knees (…) That’s why I tell you they have nothing in common .”

While the school has neither specified the reasons for the presence of these students nor indicated in which office the photo was taken, the head supervisor claims to know this office well, without giving further details.

Verdict

The image used to depict the 18-year-old Anambra boy who allegedly impregnated 10 girls was unrelated. Therefore, the picture is MISLEADING.