By: Babatunde Okunlola

Claim: Social media users claim that Abuja residents looted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) warehouse in Abuja. 

Verdict: Misleading! Findings show that the video is from a looting incident at the FCT Agriculture Department warehouse in Abuja. 

Full Text

In recent days, there have been reports of Nigerians in some communities across the nation resorting to hijacking truckloads containing food items, as well as breaking into facilities. The latest incidents were in Zaria, Kaduna and along Kaduna road in the Suleja area of Niger state. 

On March 3, 2024, a viral social media claim was that Abuja residents invaded NEMA’s warehouse where food items and supplies are stored. This assertion went viral on social media platforms, particularly on X.

One video posted by X user @PIDOMNIGERIA has been viewed over 100,000 times on the platform. The caption to the video states:

“Hunger & poverty in the Land. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) warehouse for food & relief materials has been looted in Abuja by residents. If nothing is done immediately to stop this nationwide hunger, very soon, the rich will be the only food left to loot.”

The post has since generated several reactions from the platform’s users. 

Several users have also shared this video with massive followings on the SM platform X and Facebook, including here, here, and here. 

Due to the virality of the post and its sensitivity, we decided to investigate the claim, as they follow a wave of protests across Nigeria perpetrated by citizens grappling with present economic hardships. 

Verification

A quick listen to the audio has a male voice that appears to have made the video clip audibly saying against the noisy background: 

“This is the warehouse in Dei Dei Karimo, Tasha. People are hungry; live.” 

The utterance does not state that it is a NEMA facility. 

The official NEMA handle @nemaNigeria also reacted to the viral claim, stating that the incident did not happen in their facility.

Quoting one of the misleading claims, NEMA states:

“NEMA denies looting of its warehouse on Sunday in Abuja. The attention of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has been drawn to media reports on Sunday alleging that the Agency’s warehouse was looted by some hoodlums in Abuja.

“This is to clarify that the looted warehouse does not belong to NEMA. However, the Agency sympathises with the owners of the looted facility. To forestall any security breach at NEMA facilities, Director General Mustapha Habib Ahmed has directed Zonal Directors and Heads of Operations to strengthen security in and around the Agency’s offices and warehouses nationwide.”

NEMA’s Director of Planning and Forecasting, Onimode Bamidele, confirmed that the warehouse belonged to the FCT Agriculture Department. He said: 

“It is unfortunate. We woke up and heard the same news. To ensure that we convince Nigerians that the warehouse is not of NEMA, we had to drive down this way to be sure this is what happened…. We are well informed that this warehouse belongs to the FCT Agric department, where grains were stored. It is rather an unfortunate incident,”  

Upon inquiry, Zakari Aliyu, the Public Relations Officer of the FCT Agric secretariat, verified the authenticity of the looted warehouse but refrained from providing additional details.

Conclusion

The video depicting the looting of NEMA facilities is misleading. The incident occurred at the FCT Agriculture Department.

The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Diamond 88.5 FM Nigeria, to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.