A video has gone viral showing gunmen arriving at a polling unit on motorbikes to cause disruption to ongoing election.
The masked men scared everyone away as they brandished their riffles and went on to destroy the mounter polling booths and election materials.
Moments afterwards, gunshots were heard as a team of policemen closed in on the hoodlums and gunned down two of them.
Claim: The video went viral on Saturday just as presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Nigeria and continued to be shared on Sunday, giving the impression that the event has taken place at a polling unit in the country.
A twitter handle @KNUST_GAINS, posted the video on Saturday at 12:23pm with the caption: “Ballot Box snatchers shot in Nigeria”.
How true is this claim?: Checks by TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) has revealed that the video was shot in Ghana and was first published in 2020.
The viral video was a training session of the Ghana Police depicting how they will deal with thugs sent to snatch ballot boxes at any polling unit during the December 7th 2020 election.
The video was therefore intended to boost the confidence of Ghana citizens in the police’s ability to safeguard their votes during the 20220 general elections which saw the re-election of Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The post by @ @KNUST_GAINS gained over 28, 000 views, 274 likes and 51 retweets. In some of the retweets, the event to pinned to several locations in Nigeria such as Delta, Lagos and Port-Harcourt states.
Verdict: The claim that the video was recorded during Nigeria’s presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, February 25th 2023, is incorrect and misleading.
