Claim: An image circulating social media shows former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello climbing over a steel gate to avoid arrest by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Illustration: The viral image shows a barefoot man, purported to be Bello, climbing over a steel gate. The accompanying caption states: “See Yahaya Bello jumping through the fence to escape arrest by the EFCC.”
Verification: The Explainer fact checker subjected the image to a Google reverse image search, which revealed that the image in question has been doctored and does not depict Yahaya Bello. The original image has been in circulation since November 2014 and shows a different person entirely.
The man in the original image is Usman Cheche, who was a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives representing the Bida-Gbako-Katcha federal constituency of Niger State from 2011 to 2015.
In November 2014, there was an incident where some members of the House of Representatives, including Cheche, climbed over the gate of the National Assembly complex after being denied entry by the police. This incident was widely reported by credible media outlets at the time.
The version of the image circulating on social media has been manipulated, with Yahaya Bello’s head superimposed on Cheche’s body in the original photograph.
While it is true that the EFCC filed money laundering charges against Yahaya Bello in March 2024, there is no credible evidence to suggest that he attempted to evade arrest by climbing over a gate, as claimed in the doctored image.
Verdict: FALSE.
The image has been digitally manipulated, and the original photograph depicts a different person, Usman Cheche, climbing the gate of the National Assembly complex in 2014.
