False: Trucks carrying 1.5 million Chadians attempting to vote were blocked at the Nigerian border.

By: Sam Doak
February 23 2023

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Context

The Nigerian general elections are due to take place on February 25, 2023. In the lead-up to this event, numerous dubious claims regarding election integrity have been circulating on social media. 

One claim tells of 1.5 million Chadians attempting to enter the country to vote illegally. This narrative first appeared on the Facebook page Igbo Times Magazine. The post that outlined this claim included four photographs showing people on trucks and gathered in a crowd. The caption reads, "Breaking News: Obasanjo blocked 100 trucks containers carrying nearly 1.5 million Chadians from entering Nigeria to Kaduna for Vote APC." It goes on to claim that the attempt was unsuccessful and documents had been confiscated, stating, "The trucks with no plate number have nearly 1.5 m Chadians all with Nigeria PVC. when they were interrogated, they pretend not to hear English, Obasanjo ordered that the PVC be collected and destroyed immediately."

In recent weeks, the Igbo Times Magazine Facebook page has focused almost exclusively on election-related narratives. It has a sizable following on the platform, with over 42,000 followers. 

In Fact

Logically was unable to find a single credible news source that corroborates this story. Given the number of people claimed to have been involved and the ramifications it would have on the Nigerian elections if true, this indicates that this story is false. 

When examined, the details of this story appear far from plausible. For 1.5 million people to be transported by 100 trucks, as claimed in this post, each truck would have to carry an average of 15,000 passengers. This is a far greater number of people than even the largest trucks are capable of transporting. It should also be considered that, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chad has an estimated population of approximately 18.5 million people. This would mean that this operation involved around 8 percent of the country, something that would attract widespread media attention if true. 

Logically checked the photos included in this post using a reverse image search. All of them originated from stories predating the 2023 election race. For example, the image of the trucks was found to have been taken from a 2021 article concerning cattle herders that were intercepted by Nigerian authorities. 

Using the transparency feature on Facebook, it is possible to determine that the Igbo Times Magazine Facebook page was created in August 2022, at which point it was named "Dr. Yusuf Datti Ahmed 'Fan Page'." Yusuf Datti Ahmed is currently running as the Labour Party's presidential candidate, indicating the owners of this page could have a political bias. Logically also checked the Whois record for igbotimesmagazine.online, the website linked in the post. This reveals that the website was registered on November 30, 2022. The recent registration of the site could indicate that it was created with the aim of sharing election-related materials.  

Claims originating on the Igbo Times Magazine page should be considered in light of the fact that it has repeatedly shared false narratives concerning Nigerian politics. AFP alone has debunked five claims shared on this page to date. 

The Verdict 

This story has not been reported elsewhere. Given the number of people claimed to be involved in this effort, this is highly unlikely. The images purportedly showing these events were taken from completely unrelated stories, and the Facebook page that initially communicated this narrative has a history of spreading election-related misinformation. This claim has therefore been marked as false.