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Yes, photo of Saudi king shaking hands with German chancellor heavily criticised in Nigeria

A news article widely shared on Facebook claims a Hausa-language post by another news organisation has been widely criticised in Nigeria for showing an unrelated man and woman shaking hands. 

The BBC Hausa post from 9 November 2020 shared a photo of Saudi Arabian King Salman shaking hands with German chancellor, Angela Merkel. 

Many Muslims believe shaking hands with someone of the opposite gender who is not your parent or sibling is not acceptable

The BBC Hausa post was captioned: “Sarki Salman ya jaddadawa Jamus muhimmancin fadar albarkacin baki, wanda ya ce bai kamata ya zama hanyar yada kiyayya ba.”

This roughly translates as: “King Salman reiterated the importance of freedom of expression, which he said doesn't have to be an avenue for promoting hatred.”

The post linked to an article on the BBC Hausa website.

The Sahara Reporters post and article reporting on the criticism of the BBC Hausa post has been flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system. But there is nothing incorrect in the article.  



Photo not recent


The BBC Hausa post drew thousands of angry reactions and over 1,700 comments, many of them critical of both the king and the news organisation.

A reverse image search reveals the photo is also not recent. It was shared as far back as 30 April 2017 by Saudi Arabian news organisation Al Arabiya English and shows when Merkel visited the king in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in April 2017. – Africa Check




 

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