FáctCheck: Video does not show Yoruba tribe that still lives in forest, dressed in leaves as claimed

By Pascal Ibe

Claim

@Unabombaa on X posted a video showing people who dressed half-unclad in leaves, dancing in the forest and attributed them to Yorubas.

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING. A Facebook user who first shared the video in July 2024 did not attribute it to any ethnic group’s culture in Africa.

Full Text

As the online tribal banter continued in early January of 2025, an X user, @Unabombaa, published a video showing people who were dressed half-unclad in leaves, dancing in the forest, and attributed them to Yorubas.

The post reads, “Meet the primitive Yoruba tribe deep in the Ogun forest. They still dress in leaves and are protected by Amotekun. I wonder why Yoruba people don’t like to talk about them; it’s as if they’re ashamed of their brothers and sisters.”

The post garnered over 120k views and more than 250 reposts, according to X analytics.

Verification

A simple Google Image Reverse Search showed the video was shared first by a Burkina Faso citizen, Luciano Kuela in July 2024 on Facebook.

The Facebook user, Luciano Kuela posted the video and wrote, “Qui pourrait imaginer d’où vient cette tradition“

Using Google translator, FACTWATCH Nigeria translated this from French to English Language which states, Who could imagine where this tradition comes from?“

Further search showed a Pan-African Facebook page, Trip Down Memory, which shared a documentary about people with a similar culture.

Koma people are indigenous hill-dwelling people occupying the Alantika Mountains in northern Adamawa State in Nigeria and in Northern Cameroon at the southwestern side (Faro National Park ) of the border with Adamawa State. Watch the documentary here

Conclusion

The video shared by the X user doesn’t in any way relate to the culture of the Yoruba tribe.