A video showing a young boy chewing what appears to be roasted meat has sparked outrage online, with claims that he is a Fulani child eating human flesh.
The video, originally posted by a Facebook page named Àsà àti Ìṣe Ilè Yorùbá, features a picture-in-picture clip of the boy eating the meat alongside a narration of a woman speaking in Yoruba. In her narration, she alleges that the boy is a Fulani herder living in the bush, and that kidnappers now burn and eat victims who can’t pay ransom.
She claims, the boy is eating the arm of one of their victims while his father records the video.
A second voiceover in Pidgin English, added to the clip, warns viewers to avoid such individuals, suggesting the boy might be dangerous. She says:
“My people, when we say we don see am all, we never see anything. Na human being this boy dey chop. He roast am o, e dey chop am na bush dem dey stay my people look at what someone is eating, fear no catch am, e come dey film am, human being like am hand dem don roast am cut am, na im pikin dey eat so see as fly dey pass am, dis kind one, na to cut person no go dey hard am again if you see such people for bush make you run if you see dem for road waka pass another road because dem fit use teeth chop you … what is this world turning into?
The video was also accompanied by a caption which was also written in Yoruba, when translated means; ‘This is troubling! kidnappers now burn and eat whoever they kidnap.’
The same video was also posted by another user @eniojajuni on Instagram with the caption : Fulani boy eating human flesh… God have mercy 🙆♂️ And we still call ourselves one Nigeria”
Since it surfaced, the video has received over 1 million views, 9,500 likes, and 1,600 comments.
CLAIM
That the video shows a Fulani boy eating human flesh.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub shows that the claim is FALSE!
A reverse image search and analysis using Google Lens by The FactCheckHub traced the original footage to a TikTok account, @Hadzabe_Lifestyle, which documents the daily life of the Hadzabe people, an indigenous hunter-gatherer community in Karatu District in Tanzania’s Arusha Region, East Africa.
The original video, which is clearer and without any added voiceovers, is captioned: “Baboon’s Delicious BBQ! 🍖🔥 A Hadzabe boy enjoying a tasty baboon barbecue deep in the forest! Would you eat this?”
Audio in the original shows background forest sounds and the boy chewing, with no suggestion of human flesh. Additionally, close visual inspection reveals the meat is from an animal limb likely a baboon.
Another video posted by the same account shows some women with the head of the animal. It has the caption “Hadzabe tribe enjoying a baboon head feast in the wild!”
Baboons are found in Tanzania and it’s been documented that the Hadzabe people hunt baboons.
THE VERDICT
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org