TheCable

A photo of a man carrying a lady clad in blood-stained flag has been making the rounds on social media as that of an #EndSARS protester shot by soldiers.

On Tuesday, men in army uniform opened fire on unarmed protesters at Lekki toll gate in Lagos state.

The incident had generated an uproar, within and outside the country.

Yemi Alade, a Nigerian singer, who has over 12 million followers on Instagram, earlier shared the photo but later deleted it.

It was also shared by other Nigerians as condemnations continue to trail the shooting of the unarmed protesters by the soldiers.

Some even claimed that the lady in the photo died after she was shot. But how true is this claim?

Checks by TheCable showed that the photo is from a drama staged by the Akwa Ibom state chapter of the Nigeria Christian Corpers Fellowship (NCCF).

The drama, titled: “Lord, Heal Our Land”, was in commemoration of Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary held on October 1.

You can watch the drama here.

In a statement, NCCF dismissed the claim that the lady in the photo had died.

“This is to inform the general public that the picture trending online of a man carrying a lady covered in Nigerian flag appearing dead is a picture from the NCCF Akwa Ibom state, stage drama night tagged “Lord, heal our land” on October 1, 2020 at the NCCF state secretariat,” the statement read.

“The lady in question is alive. We are standing with the youth on the #EndSARS and the #EndPoliceBrutality peaceful protest. We call for a new Nigeria where peace, righteousness an justice reigns.”

The #EndSARS protest, which started on a peaceful note, took a violent turn earlier in the week.

Some governors had declared 24-hour curfew to keep things in check but the attacks worsened across the country.