By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

Stealing because of hunger in Nigeria is an escalating crisis driven by severe macroeconomic instability, hyperinflation, and food insecurity.

As the cost of basic food items surges beyond the reach of everyday citizens, instances of desperate people resorting to petty theft—stealing items like yams, bread, and garri just to survive—have dramatically increased across the country.

The phenomenon, often locally described with phrases like “Na hunger cause am” (It was caused by hunger), spans several key areas of concern:

Nigeria faces a severe hunger and poverty crisis in 2026, with approximately 35 million people facing acute food insecurity and about 141 million living in poverty.

 This hardship is driven by soaring inflation, fuel subsidy removal effects, persistent insecurity disrupting farming, and climate shocks.

Claim

Social media users have shared photos of two men arrested for stealing a police signpost in Kano State, northern Nigeria.

Zara Onyinye posted the suspects alongside the stolen signpost on her Facebook page on 17 August, with a caption that suggested that it was a recent story.

With hundreds of reactions on the post, many Facebook users who commented, believed the claim.

On the X platform, a user, @NewNgisPossible made the same claim and said it was because of “hunger everywhere.”

The same post was made recently here and here.

Verification

First, one of the primary reasons FACTWATCH Nigeria was able to discover that this story may not be recent was that the suspects’ faces were shown publicly when they were paraded by the police, which is now seen as unprofessional conduct.

The public parade of suspects was banned by the former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.

In 2025, Egbetokun directed the police commands nationwide to stop displaying or completely blurring the faces of arrested suspects who have not been convicted by a court.

When the image attached to the claim was subjected to Google Lens, we found out that the story was from August 2024.

Channels Television reported in 2024 that the Kano State Police Command arrested two suspects in connection with the theft of a signpost from the Bachirawa Police Station in the Ungogo Local Government Area of the state.

The incident, which was captured in a viral video, occurred during the #EndBadGovernance protest that escalated into violence.

In the video, one of the suspects was seen dragging the stolen signpost, which has since drawn widespread condemnation.

The spokesperson for the Kano State Police Command, SP Abdullahi Kiyawa, in a statement posted on Facebook that year, said the suspects were apprehended with the assistance of residents.

In his message, written in Hausa and later translated to English, Kiyawa said, “The person who stole the Bachirawa Police Station signpost and the person who collected it are working hand-in-hand. Residents of the neighbourhood have brought up a new signpost. We are grateful to the people of Bachirawa.”

Guardian Nigeria reported this story here.

Verdict

The story of the two men arrested for stealing a police signpost in Kano, which has gone viral, occurred in August 2024 and NOT recently.

Therefore, circulating it as a recent story is MISLEADING.