IN SHORT: Some Facebook posts claim that a protest by Nigerians has taken place at the Chicago State University in the United States. But there is no evidence for this and the photo in the posts is from another protest.
The Facebook page Labour party Movement claims that Nigerians living in the United States have staged a peaceful protest at the Chicago State University.
The 30 August 2023 post includes hashtags that show the protest is directed at the Nigerian judiciary about the court case of the February presidential elections.
Some opposition leaders who lost out on the presidency are challenging Bola Tinubu’s victory in court.
The blurry photo attached to the post shows a group walking down a tree-lined street with a banner that reads “We can’t afford this anymore”.
Users commenting on the post seem to be in support of the protests.
Chicago State University is located in the city of Chicago in the US state of Illinois. The university put its X account (formerly known as Twitter) on private after a number of Nigerians reportedly bombarded the page with questions around whether Tinubu graduated from the university.
Similar posts can be found here, here, here, here and here.
But have Nigerians protested at the Chicago State University? We checked.
False news
There has been no report of a protest by Nigerians in Chicago by any credible media houses.
Africa Check also carried out a reverse image search for the photo of protesters. This revealed that it was used in a report by religious news site, Church Times, in January. It is captioned “Protest in central London in October in which Christian Climate Action was involved”.
None of the protesters, more clearly visible in the original image, appear to be Nigerian, and another protester in the photo is carrying a poster showing Liz Truss, the UK’s prime minister for six weeks in September and October 2022.
The photo has circulated on the internet for some time and has nothing to do with a protest by Nigerians in Chicago. There is no evidence such a protest took place.
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