Fact-check: WhatsApp picture with Nigerian Airtel number can’t kill

The image was taken in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2019 and is unrelated to picking calls from a specific Nigerian Airtel number.

Writer: Abraham Athian 

A picture shared with a Nigerian Airtel number on several WhatsApp groups alleging that it can kill you when you answer a call from that number is a hoax.

The photo with the number claimed to have killed people who answered the call from it was shared on several WhatsApp groups on September 9, 2023, with the caption: “pls dnt pick dis number 09072256632, dnt be selfish, send it 2 all ur friends, pls save life”. 

The picture was widely shared in WhatsApp groups. 

It has caused fear and worry for many WhatsApp users, including myself, so 211 Check took the time to investigate and verify its accuracy so that it cannot mislead others who may come across it. 

Claim Verification:

A Google Reverse Image Search shows that the picture was taken in Nigeria, in Lagos, and has been online since 2019. On January 16, 2019, the  Ng Daily News published it.  The only paper that can be traced on the internet has the story featuring the image with the headline “Eiye Cultists Kill Man For Mingling With Aiye Gang Members In Lagos“.

The article explains who was killed and why they killed him. It goes on to name him as ‘Afeez, a barber in the Mile 12 area of Lagos State. The incident, which caused apprehension in the community, occurred on January 6, 2019, at Akorounfayo Street, Mile 12.

The leader of the Aiye Confraternity, identified as Timo, was killed on Thursday of that week at Moro Junction, also in the Mile 12 area, according to the news report.

“The barber had locked his shop and was about to go home when the Eiye cult group members, who rode on motorbikes to his shop, shot at him and escaped.” Immediately after they shot him, the cultists escaped. After the attack, some Aiye members said Afeez was killed because they usually sat in his shop.

“Unfortunately, he was not a cult member. It was because of the snooker they usually play in his shop that they thought he was an Aiye member. They have wasted an innocent boy for nothing.

A screenshot of the image used by Ng Daily News.

On a separate search for this number, 09072256632, the True Caller website shows that the number is harmless. It has made 37 calls, 289 spam reports, 2,127 look-ups, and 65% pick-up rates in Nigeria.

Conclusion:

211 Check finds the claim in a picture shared in different WhatsApp groups, purportedly causing death after picking up a call from a Nigerian Airtel number written on it,  a  hoax. The picture was taken in Lagos, Nigeria, and first published by the Ng Daily News in January 2019 of an incident involving a killing by a gang group. The culture of spreading fake news by sharing without verification is not good. It can cause harm to the public.

A publication under 211 Check’s ‘Fact-check for a pay’ Initiative with Support from the International Fact-checking Network through the BUILD grant.

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