Don't use these photos!
Unfortunately some articles about Nigeria are published with false and misleading photographs which are used to reinforce a wrong narrative. On this page we will highlight photos like this to help writers know which ones to avoid. Note: The information presented here is from this article: dailytrust.com/fact-check-these-pictures-of-armed-herders-are-not-from-nigeria/
“We observe serious cases of unacceptable innocent and deliberate misrepresentations that continue to trigger inflammatory statements and hate speeches with resultant ethno-religious and political crises across the country. ”
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani
Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC),
"These photos are not a true reflection of the Fulani and the situation in Nigeria. The photos are misleading and an attempt to create a false narrative. It is unethical to use such photos. ”
Dr Anthony Igyuve
Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication of Nasarawa State University
These photos of armed herders with their cattle have all been used in articles about Nigeria to incite fear, yet not one of them was taken in Nigeria. See the articles below for details.
South Sudan
Photo by Goran Tomasevic of Reuters, 01 December 14, 2013.
It shows a man from the Dinka tribe holding his AK-47 rifle in front of cows in a Dinka cattle herders camp near Rumbek, capital of the Lakes State in central South Sudan.
Kenya
Photo first posted online by AllAfrica June 21, 2014.
The photo showed a young Turkana man with an AK-47 rifle. Turkana County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya.
The Turkana people live in the arid, sandy expense of Northern Kenya, from Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana) to the Ugandan border.
Location unknown and unproven
Daily Trust could not prove the identity or location of the man in the photo slinging a gun on his shoulder. Several years of multiple use on social media and newspapers have striped the photo of its metadata for verification. Besides, there are not enough landmarks to aid geolocation of the photo.
Location unknown and unproven
The earliest traceable usage of the photo was from February 6, 2016, by Ghana-based Graphic Online.
The photo has been used mostly without caption by journalists across the African continent.
Like many similar images, the photo has been stripped of its metadata, making precise geolocation impossible.
Kenya
First uploaded online by Felix Features on June 19, 2012.
The photographer captioned it as “A young Pokot warrior, Korinamba Ruto, herds his cattle with an AKS 47 gun on his shoulder which he carries for protection against attacks from cattle rustlers from the neighbouring Turkana community.”
"Journalists must use real photos of Fulani taken in Nigeria or use cartoons and infographics instead of using foreign photos to erroneously depict them. "
Dr Abbah
For photographs that are really of Nigeria and herders, please see our resource page dedicated to that:
www.wholetruthnigeria.net/for-journalists/photos-to-use
Note: If you would like photos of other scenes for your work, please email us at wholetruthnigeria@gmail.com and we will do our best to get them to you. Our team live and work full time in many locations across Nigeria and would be happy to help you share a balanced perspective of what is happening here.