Claim: Image shows children running during killings in Benue State.
Verdict: Misleading.
Full Text:
On 18 June, a Facebook user made a post accompanied with several pictures with the claim they are from the scene of the Benue State killings.
Recall that in the early hours of June 14, armed invaders attacked the Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. In the aftermath of the attack, 100 people were killed and property worth millions destroyed.
President Bola Tinubu has visited the state and given instructions that the perpetrators be arrested.
The survivors of the attack have also moved to IDP camps.
The image posted on Facebook shows children running helter-skelter in a chaotic scene.
The Facebook post lamented the atrocity in Benue State, while allegedly that the attacks were motivated by the agenda to Islamise Nigeria.
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About 132 people have commented on the post while 12 people have shared it.
Verification:
Using Google reverse image search, Ripples Nigeria finds that the image was featured in articles published in 2017 and 2022.
One article is headlined, “8 South Sudanese refugees killed on Christmas Eve in Ethiopia”.
The other article reads: “People die in South Sudan ethnic clashes”.
Conclusion
The viral image is not related to Benue State killings. Also, there’s no evidence to support the claim that the killings are part of an agenda to Islamise Nigeria as the Facebook page purported.
