Addis Ababa, March 15, 2021 (Walta) – Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check disclosed that a picture shared on social media claiming to show the bodies of victims massacred in Aksum of Tigray region is false.
“A picture shared on Facebook claiming to show the bodies of victims massacred in Aksum, Tigray region of Ethiopia is FALSE. A reverse image search on Google reveals that the picture was taken in November 2020, in Nigeria,” it said
The photo shows bodies lined up in rows on the ground, and a huge crowd of onlookers in the background, accompanied by a headline that reads, “Reports Emerging Of ‘Horrible’ Massacre In Ethiopian Holy City”.
However, the picture showing the bodies arranged as though in readiness for burial, was not taken in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia as claimed in the post.
According to the Star, a fact-checker, a reverse image search on Google reveals that the picture was taken in November 2020, in Nigeria, after suspected members of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram killed at least 40 rice farmers and fishermen while they were harvesting crops in Borno State.