- The PDP has been accused of releasing fake news which it allegedly used to attack President Muhammadu Buhari
- The report discovered to be fake was an image of the president and that of dead soldiers (supposedly Nigerian)
- However, it was discovered that the viral photo was actually taken by a African Press photographer showing peacekeepers killed in Somalia in 2011
An online viral image posted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supposedly showing dead Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram in the Metele village attack has been confirmed as fake and misleading.
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The said attack on the 157 Task Force Battalion of the Nigerian Army took place on Sunday, November 18, by the insurgents in the northeast region of the country .
Concerning the tragedy, the Chief of Army staff, Tukur Buratai, on Wednesday, December 26, revealed that only 23 soldiers were killed and also put the number of troops wounded at 31.
Although there are no official casualty figures until more than a week after the attack, some media outlets, including Reuters, reported that over 100 soldiers were killed.
Reacting to the incident, the PDP shared on its official Twitter page a press statement accompanied with an image of President Muhammadu Buhari and that of several dead soldiers they claimed were Nigerian laid on the ground. The PDP's Twitter report so far has not less than 1,155 Retweets and 1,618 Likes.
However, based on thorough investigation and series of verications, The Guardian has reported that the said photo is fake since it does not relate to Boko Haram or Nigeria.
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Findings revealed that the image was snapped by a photography stringer for Associated Press (AP) at Elasha Biya, Somalia.
A photo of dead bodies of AU peacekeepers in Somalia killed by Al-Shabab militants in 2011 (Photo credit: AP)
The image was published by the AP on October 20, 2011, to show Al-Shabab militants displaying the bodies of men they claimed were African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed in Somalia.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of spreading fake news.
The opposition party, therefore, asked the minister and the ruling APC to seek forgiveness from Nigerians for allegedly spreading fake news in the country.
The PDP in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Sunday, October 21, said: “The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, should lead the government and his APC to do the needful, instead of the lame attempts at whitewashing the government and his party, even when Nigerians know that they are behind the escalation of fake news in Nigeria.”
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Source: Legit.ng