IN SHORT: The video is from the September 2024 rescue operation in Nigeria’s Port Harcourt, not a January 2025 operation. And 16 children were rescued, not over 200 as claimed on Facebook.
A message circulating on Facebook in January 2025 claims that over 200 children have been rescued in the Ozuoba local government area of Port Harcourt, Rivers state, in southern Nigeria.
As evidence, the message features a video showing a group of children being led to safety by a crowd of concerned adults.
It reads: “Over 200 missing children found in a compound in Ozouba Port harcourt please share for parents to find their missing children thanks.”
We found the same claim on Facebook here and here. (Note: See other instances of the claim at the end of this report.)
But does the video show more than 200 children being rescued in Port Harcourt in January 2025, as the posts suggest? We checked.
Old rescue footage from September 2024
A Google reverse image search of a screenshot of the video revealed that it had been shared on Facebook in September 2024 with the same claim.
Further research using the keywords “missing children found in a compound in Ozuoba, Port Harcourt” led us to several news reports from local media outlets, including Channels TV, Independent newspaper and Punch newspaper.
According to media reports, Grace Iringe-Koko, the state police public relations officer, said the guardians of the children had been arrested the day before for an offence.
“On September 8, 2024, operatives of the Rivers State Police Command attached to the Ozuoba Division acted on credible information and rescued sixteen (16) children from a compound in Ozuoba, Port Harcourt,” Iringe-Koko said.
The media said the rescued children were suspected victims of human trafficking and were handed over to the state’s ministry of social welfare.
This video is from the September 2024 rescue operation in Port Harcourt, not a 2025 rescue of over 200 children.
The false claim also appeared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment