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Claim: Social media users claim Nigerian youths attacked Shoprite outlets in retaliation for xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Verdict: Misleading. The video does not show Nigerian youths attacking a Shoprite outlet in retaliation for recent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa. Verification conducted by DUBAWA found that the footage is old and dates back to the #EndSARS unrest in Nigeria in 2020. The video is therefore being recirculated out of context and falsely linked to recent xenophobic tensions in South Africa.
Full Text
A video circulating on social media has been shared with claims that Nigerian youths attacked a Shoprite outlet in Nigeria in retaliation for xenophobic attacks against Nigerians living in South Africa.
The footage appears to show a crowd storming a shopping mall and vandalising parts of the facility. Social media posts accompanying the video claim the incident was a reprisal attack by Nigerian youths against South African-owned businesses operating in the country.
The claim has been widely shared across Facebook, Instagram, and X, attracting significant engagement.
One of the captions accompanying the post reads:
“Nigerian Youths Damage SHOPRITE Structures, In Retaliation To Xenophobia In South Africa. Several Nigerian youths in the early hours of Monday targeted SHOPRITE structures in the country for destruction. The angry youths carried out the violent activities in retaliation for xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other African nationals in South Africa. The youths shut down businesses in the SHOPRITE buildings, threatening further violence.”
Collectively, posts containing the video have amassed more than one million views across these platforms. On Facebook, where the claim appears to be circulating most extensively, it has been published here and here.
Given the xenophobic tensions in South Africa and previous retaliatory comments from other African countries, including Ghana, the claim has generated considerable public interest. It also has the potential to mislead viewers if presented without context.
But does the video truly show Nigerian youths attacking a Shoprite outlet in response to xenophobic violence in South Africa? To ascertain the facts, DUBAWA investigated the claim.
Verification
DUBAWA used the InVID video verification tool to extract keyframes from the footage and conduct reverse image searches. The searches revealed that the video is not recent but dates back several years.
Our investigation found that the footage relates to an incident that occurred at a Shoprite branch in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, during the unrest associated with the #EndSARS protests. The incident took place in 2020 and was widely reported by local and international media.
DUBAWA identified a longer version of the video that TVC News Nigeria published on Facebook. The footage was uploaded during the period of the unrest and shows scenes consistent with those in the viral clip. We also found a report by Arise News documenting the aftermath of the incident, including the Lagos State Governor’s visit to the affected area.
To further verify the footage, DUBAWA compared key visual elements in the viral video with those in the archived reports. These included the architectural design of the shopping complex, as well as the placement of storefronts, signage, and entrances. The comparison confirmed that the viral clip and the older news footage were recorded at the same location and depict the same incident.
Source: Facebook
Furthermore, multiple media organisations reported on the destruction that occurred during the unrest. One report by Arise News uploaded in October 2020 featured interviews with affected victims conducted in front of the Shoprite outlet where the incident took place, providing additional evidence that the footage is linked to the #EndSARS disturbances and not to recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Conclusion
These findings demonstrate that the video predates the current claim and has been recirculated out of context.
