Fact-check: Did Kano Police Spokesperson Share Photos Of Suspected Looters From 2011?

Social media, particularly Facebook and X (Twitter), has been flooded with images of people arrested for allegedly looting government and private properties during the #EndBadGovernanceProtest in Kano, North West Nigeria, after they were uploaded to Facebook by the Police Public Relations Officer, Kano Command, Abdullahi Kiyawa. 

A significant number of these posts, including those by prominent figures such as Omoyele Sowore, assert that these photos were taken in 2011. But this is false.

Upon examination, HumAngle concluded that the images are from the 2024 protest, with the confusion likely arising from the fact that the Facebook photo album in which they were found was created in 2011. 

The claim began circulating on social media platforms shortly after the images of the arrested looters were shared by Kiyawa on Facebook. A number of users noticed the “2011” tag and started attempting to debunk it. 

Sowore, a prominent Nigerian activist and politician, contributed to the spread by sharing the claim on his X account where it gathered more than 1.2 million views. He suggested that the images were being recycled to create a false narrative about the current protests in Kano.

“The @officialABAT regime already planned how to blackball Nigerians into submission even before this non-violent social change action(s) started; this was posted by the Kano State @PoliceNG PPRO on Facebook today.  He was caught pants down because the same office had posted the same photos in 2011 on @facebook. The reason you must understand their game plan and stay focused. #EndBadGovernaceInNigeria #DaysOfRage #RevolutionNow,” he posted. 

HumAngle found this claim to be misleading for various reasons.

One, we did a reverse search on the pictures and could not find uploads of them before the Aug. 1 protest, which suggests they are original and have not previously appeared on the internet.

Second, the oldest post on Kiyawa’s Facebook account is dated Oct. 10, 2011, two months after he supposedly shared the pictures originally. Also, between 2011 and 2012, Kiyawa had posted only two pictures on his page.

Third, Kiyawa had not joined the police force in 2011. He was only enlisted as a Cadet ASP on July 9, 2012.

Some features of the images are also inconsistent with the claim that they were taken or uploaded to Facebook in 2011. For example, one of the arrested suspects was wearing a Barcelona football club jersey with the Spotify logo on it. According to CNN, Barcelona signed a deal with Spotify in 2022. In 2011, Barcelona advertised the Qatar Foundation on its jersey.

Another picture shows a traffic control booth near one of the suspects with the words “Tinubu Camp Kano” painted on it. This graffiti became popular in the state when Bola Tinubu was contesting for president in 2023.

Videos and pictures that circulated on social media have shown Nigerian police and military chasing after looters during the protest, especially those carrying the yellow oil container. News articles from BBC News Hausa, Premium Times, and others also confirm that there was violence and looting following demonstrations in Kano on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Kiyawa denied the claims in a press statement released on Friday evening.

“Contrary to the misleading unverified social media reports that some of the images were posted sometimes in 2011, these allegations are false and baseless … These images showing suspects and exhibits are linked to the current incidents resulting from the ongoing August 2024 Nationwide Protest and have no relation with any incident in the year 2011,” he maintained.

“Interestingly, the same suspects in the alleged looting and vandalisation who were arrested and paraded by the Police Command on 1st August 2024 are here before the press today, 02/08/2024 for clarity.”