Local Voices Liberia iVerify Liberia team has seen photos of large crowds claiming to be a welcoming ceremony of Timothy Weah, the son of Liberia’s President George Weah. The images were first shared by a Facebook user identified as Fafinee Kamara.
We conducted a Reverse Image Search of these photos and found that some were not taken in Liberia.
Our Fact-checking desk reached this conclusion by conducting a Reverse Image Search of the three pictures shared to Facebook alongside the arrival photos of the Juventus star and found that they were all photos of different events taken in Nigeria and Guinea respectively.
We found that the first photo of cars in a crowded area was taken in Nigeria in 2019 when the population of Nigeria was estimated at 190 million at the time and was considered as a threat to the country’s development.
Our Reverse Image Search traced the second photo and discovered that it was taken in 2012 when the Nigerian Trade Union called off strikes and protest after former President Goodluck Jonathan announced a cut in the petrol prices.
Additionally, the third photo was taken in Guinea in 2021 at the time Guinean’s former President Alpha Conde was held in detention by the army coup leaders.
Based on these evidence gathered following the conduct of a reverse image search, we conclude that these photos were not taken in Liberia and that the sharing of these images to depict a huge welcome of Mr. Weah is misleading.
Evidence
DESCRIPTION The Guardian
LINK: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/06/guinea-president-held-in-military-detention-say-army-coup-leaders
DESCRIPTION Reuters
LINK: https://www.reuters.com/article/ozatp-nigeria-strike-20120116-idAFJOE80F00A20120116
Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
This initiative is funded by Irish Aid, Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, European Union Delegation in Liberia and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. The donors have no say in the production of this fact check report.
