By Quadri Yahya
Claim:
A video of people rallying in a street with a burning broom on their hands has been circulating on social media claiming that it was a ‘procession’ by some supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, during his visit to Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Verdict:
The claim that the video of people with burning broom on their hands is that of a rally by supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in Yola, Adamawa State is FALSE.
The video is from a ‘fire festival’ in Ghana.
Full Text:
On August 18, 2022, a Twitter user, Safeeyan (Atikulated soldier) [@safeeyan_] shared a video of people on a street with a burning broom on their hands.
The user captioned the video to depicts that the video shows supporters rallying for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party.
The caption reads: “Millions of youth burning brooms in Adamawa after receiving Atiku yesterday, well, this is just the beginning.
2023 is going to be mad.”
Another Twitter user captioned the video to depicts that the incident happened in Kebbi.
The video surfaced online two days after the Nigeria’s former vice president’s visit Yola in Adamawa State in an event where thousands of supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Some local online media also reported that the video is a procession by supporters of the PDP presidential candidate.
The video since surfacing online has garnered over 299 retweets, 141 quote tweets and 599 likes from both posts.
Verification:
A keyword search by FactCheckElection led to a video from September 22, 2018.
The video posted on a Facebook with the name “National Folklore Board Ghana“, was accompanied with a write up to narrate that the video was taken at Bugum Chugu (Fire Festival).
According to DBpedia, a knowledge-based, crowd-sourced website, the Bugum Chugu (Fire Festival) is the first Dagomba festival in the year. It is celebrated in the first month of the Dagomba lunar year, the Bugum Goli (the month of fire), and is celebrated on the ninth day of the month. The festival is celebrated to remember the “lost of a chief son” during the old days.
Dagomba festivals – Dagbon Kingdom in Ghana, West Africa has many festivals they celebrate. Dagomba festivals include, Bugum festival (fire festival), Damba, Kpini ( Guinea fowl festival). As well as Konyuri chuɣu (Breaking the fasting festival) and Chimsi festival.
Conclusion:
FactCheckElection can conclude that the video of people in a rally with a burning broom in their hands does not show supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in Yola, Adamawa State.
The video shows persons in a region of Ghana, West Africa.
The video is therefore false and misleading.