The mysterious loss of life of Nigerian Afrobeats star MohBad has sparked outcry within the West African nation, with protesters gathering to demand an investigation. A video shared 1000’s of occasions on TikTok purports to point out Nigerian President Bola Tinubu accusing rapper Naira Marley of being concerned in MohBad’s loss of life. Nonetheless, AFP Truth Test found that the clip had been digitally altered, utilizing footage from a information report. It was posted by a TikTok account that provides voiceovers to movies of well-known individuals, together with a number of that includes Tinubu.
“Lastly!!!! Tinubu speaks about Mohbad’s loss of life (sic)”, we learn within the caption of a Tic Tac video revealed on September 30, 2023.
Seen greater than 513,000 occasions, the clip exhibits Tinubu giving a televised speech.
The information headline on the backside of the display screen reads: “President Bola Tinubu”. The higher left nook includes a TVC Information brand. TVC Information is a 24-hour Nigerian tv information channel primarily based in Lagos.
“Even when it was Naira Marley who killed Mohbad, they can’t cease him as a result of Naira Marley is my boy and my enterprise companion,” Tinubu reportedly mentioned within the video.
Whereas a number of commenters seem to doubt the authenticity of the video, others specific dismay over Tinubu’s alleged involvement with Marley.
untimely loss of life
MohBad, whose actual identify is Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, died in unspecified circumstances September 27, 2023 (archived right here). He was 27 years outdated.
Protesters took to the streets after his loss of life, demand an investigation within the incident (archived right here).
The nationwide police in Lagos State, Nigeria’s financial and cultural capital, introduced that they’d fashioned a particular group to conduct a “truthful and clear investigation”.
Nigerian social media has been flooded with hypothesis that Marley (actual identify Azeez Fashola) was linked to MohBad’s loss of life.
The singer signed a take care of the Marley label in 2019, however native media reported that the 2 separate methods on unhealthy phrases in 2022 (archived right here).
MohBad too accused Marley of assault months earlier than his loss of life (archived right here).
On October 3, 2023, a Lagos police spokesperson announcement Marley was taken into custody for questioning (archived right here).
Nonetheless, the declare that the video exhibits Tinubu publicly discussing Marley’s alleged involvement in Mohbad’s loss of life is fake.
Edited video
Within the clip, Tinubu’s mouth actions are clearly not in sync with the audio, despite the fact that they seem to resemble his voice.
Utilizing a reverse picture search, AFP Truth Test discovered the authentic pictures in a TVC Information report from June 2, 2023 (archived right here).
AFP Truth Test checked a number of components to substantiate that these are certainly the identical pictures seen within the TikTok clip.
In each movies, Tinubu sits on a chair bearing the presidential seal and wears the identical garments.
From roughly 01’08” to 01’12”, Tinubu’s actions within the authentic video align with these within the TikTok clip.
Within the authentic footage, filmed months earlier than MohBad’s loss of life, Tinubu pronounces the appointment of a number of authorities officers.
“… the selections that you’ve got seen and I thanks in your help, your encouragement… it’s a determination that I inherited, and it’s elementary, to inherit the belongings and liabilities of my predecessor. That’s all,” he mentioned.
He would not speak about Marley or name him a “enterprise companion.”
Synthetic intelligence
The video was posted by an account which AFP Truth Test has already debunked for sharing an edited clip of Tinubu.
The account doesn’t characterize the movies as synthetic intelligence-generated.
With the rise of synthetic intelligenceit is getting simpler and simpler to create faux audio for high-profile personalities (archived right here).
AFP Truth Test has created a information with ideas for figuring out AI-generated content material, which you’ll be able to learn right here.
