FACT CHECK: What is the real story behind the pictures of ‘Ondo’ ritualists arrested by the police as shared by user X?

CLAIM :On Tuesday, August 28, 2024, user X Harry @chiditweets042 posted two images of people with human body parts, claiming they were arrested in Ondo State. The user also claimed that one of those arrested was an Islamic cleric, and that they had a human hand, three kidneys, three hearts, a spine, and a tongue.

FULL TEXT

The threat of killing people for ritual purposes has become a common phenomenon across Nigeria, as many people in possession of human body parts have been arrested by security forces and private individuals.

In a post supported by two images, Harry claimed that two other people, Oluawo and Babatunde Kayode — who supplied the human body parts to the suspect, had also been arrested.

At the time of filing this report, the post had been viewed more than 600,000 times, liked more than 4,099 times, retweeted more than 2,099 times, tagged more than 299 times, and commented on more than 700 times.

When Ripples Nigeria visited the comments section, it was found that people believed the claims to be true.

@ThouSonOfMan commented: “There are so many sad stories of self-righteous people from the Southwest…”

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Also, @Onyeka_Marco said: “Igbo people should be careful in the South West, especially Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo!”

Also, @JuuJuGirl said: “Why are some of these skull miners Yoruba Muslims, why?”

Due to the sensitive nature of this post and its potential to mislead the public, Ripples Nigeria decided to fact-check the claim.

VERIFICATION

Ripples Nigeria performed a Google Reverse Image Search on the images, and it was revealed that the images were available before August 28, 2024.

Using Google Lens, this reporter discovered that the first images to surface online date back to 2022, when we reported on a couple; Kehinde Oladimeji, 43, and Adejumoke Raji, 35, who were caught in possession of human organs in Ogun State. This came after the police received a tip-off from the Baale of Leme Community, Mashood Ogunwolu.

Similarly, the International Center for Investigative Journalism (ICIR) reported how residents of the community where the couple were arrested stormed the police station, took the couple out of the facility and set them on fire.

We checked the second image using Google’s verification tool, and the results showed that a media platform reported the same incident on March 31, 2024, where self-proclaimed cleric Alfa Idris Oluwafemi was arrested for possessing human organs. The report also revealed that two other people who provided him with human organs were also arrested.

Other credible media platforms in Nigeria also reported the same incident since March 2024.

CONCLUSION

The two images in question are not recent. The first image surfaced on the internet since 2022, showing an incident in Ogun State. The second image has been circulating since March 2024, showing Alfa Olufemi being arrested.

FACT CHECK: What is the real story behind photos of ‘Ondo’ ritualists arrested by police as shared by user X? appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.