By Pascal Ibe
Between truth and deception, disinformation has the ability to produce complex notions or overlap with other profound consequences. Some of these include scepticism and uncertainty, societal divisions and polarisation, and the manipulation of emotions, illustrating how disinformation paints a challenging picture.
In a country like Nigeria with many ethnic groups, disinformation plays a significant role in fueling societal divisions and polarisation. As society becomes more divided, there is a risk that individuals may become selective in their acceptance of information based on their pre-existing beliefs.
Tribal bigots have continued to push for these divisions through the act of disinformation on X, a place that promotes it easily.
An X user named @greytruthmedia shared a video of two men who killed a tricycle rider.
The X user claimed it happened recently.
@greytruthmedia said, “Two yoruba brothers who hacked a hardworking Igbo man into pieces – Amos Onyemaechi Chukwuka, to steal his Tricycle (keke marwa)
“They said they have only done it to 8 people.
The post on 28 October which garnered over 28k views, has sparked wide condemnation from commenters.
The post generated over 500 reposts and more than 511 likes.
Reacting to this post, a commenter, @∅∅7Giddy, said, “Igbos shouldn’t take this news lightly. If tables were turned we know what would happen.“
Another commenter, @Br333∅4Ign wrote, “Yoruba want to start what they can’t finish.“
From these comments, one may be quick to reason that the incident occurred recently as it caused outrage.
As a result of this, FACTWATCH decided to run a fact check on this.
Verification
A simple keyword, “Brothers kill a man to steal his tricycle, “in a Google search, led this Fact Checker to reports related to this claim, which were published on 18th February 2023 by credible news organizations in Nigeria.
The report which was published about 18 months ago, stated that men of the Ogun State Police Command arrested two cousins, Damilola Famoriyo, 34, and Akinbayo Abiodun, 31, for robbery and murder.
The suspects were arrested after carrying out eight operations and killing a motorcyclist, Amos Chuckwuka.
The suspects reportedly dumped his corpse at the Agoro riverbank in Ijebu-Ode and went away with his tricycle.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP, Abimbola Oyeyemi disclosed this in a statement.
Oyeyemi said the suspects were arrested following information received by policemen attached to Obalende divisional headquarters, Ijebu-Ode, on December 13, 2022.
The PPRO said a dead body was later identified as that of a tricycle rider.
He said, “Upon the information, the DPO Obalende division, SP Murphy Salami, led his detectives to the scene, where it was discovered that the deceased was macheted to death, after which his tricycle was taken away.
On interrogation, the two suspects confessed to the commission of the crime.
“In their statements, they confessed to being a two-man syndicate who specialized in snatching motorcycles and tricycles.
“They confessed further that they always carry out their robbery operation in Ijebu-Ode and its environs.
“According to them, on December 13, 2022, they lured the victim, Amos Oyemechi Chuckwuka, to carry their farm products from the Agoro area to the town, and they agreed on a price.
“But on getting to Agoro/Ikangba road, they stopped him and snatched the tricycle from him.
“It was when the deceased tried to struggle with them that they macheted him to death and dragged his corpse to the riverbank where they dumped him.
“They informed the police further that they have snatched up to eight tricycles in the Ijebu-Ode area, and that their standby buyers are residing at Ikorodu in Lagos State.”
The police said two phones of the deceased and the cutlass the suspects used to kill the victim have been recovered.
Check this similar report Here and Here.
Verdict
The claim that two yoruba brothers killed an Igbo man to steal his Tricycle recently, is MISLEADING. The incident happened in February 2023.
