Fact-Check: Viral ‘Fuel Price Hike Protest’ Video Dates Back to 2024
Claim: A viral video shows thousands of Nigerians protesting recent petrol price increases and calling for President Bola Tinubu to leave office. Verdict: Misleading Background Story As concerns grow...
Claim: A viral video shows thousands of Nigerians protesting recent petrol price increases and calling for President Bola Tinubu to leave office.
Verdict: Misleading
Background Story
As concerns grow over rising petrol prices and living costs, a video circulating on social media has been portrayed as proof of a recent mass protest in Nigeria against fuel price hikes.
The post, shared on X, carries the caption “MASSIVE PROTEST ERUPTED OVER FUEL PRICE HIKE!” It further claims that “Thousands take to the streets as citizens send a DIRECT message to the President: ‘TINUBU MUST GO!’”
The post also suggests the demonstration could mark a tipping point for Nigeria and spark wider unrest nationwide.
By the time of this investigation, the post had received over 65,000 views, 1,000 likes, and about 800 reposts, with several users treating the video as evidence of a recent protest.
An X user, @DouglasInih, welcomed the development, saying, “This should be replicated in all the states.”
Another user, @Richardbal22006, suggested that presidential aspirants should join the protesters and “show PBAT what he organised against GEJ.”
However, @KOsinulu49366 challenged that claim, calling it “AI-grade stupidity” and noting that Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector had been deregulated.
Verification
NDRFactCheck examined recent protest reports in Nigeria and ran reverse-image searches on keyframes from the viral video to determine when and where the footage was first recorded.
The search showed that the footage predates the current claim. It was recorded during the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests in August 2024, when Nigerians took to the streets over economic hardship, hunger, inflation, the removal of the petrol subsidy, and other governance concerns.
Contemporary reports documented protesters chanting slogans including “Tinubu Must Go” and “We Are Hungry.”
The “Tinubu Must Go” slogan in the old footage therefore does not prove the protest took place in September 2026 as being projected.
The “Fuel is now N1600. Tinubu must go…” overlay appears to have been added to old footage and recirculated as a recent event.
See the screenshot below:
Reverse image search shows the overlay is distorted
What the current reality says
Petrol prices have recently increased, but that doesn’t make the viral video recent.
Reports on September 13, 2026, showed petrol selling for about ₦1,280–₦1,395 per litre at different filling stations in parts of Lagos and Ogun after the Dangote Refinery raised its gantry price to ₦1,350 per litre.
Channels Television also reported on September 15 that petrol prices had reached as high as ₦1,470 per litre in some locations.
Genuine recent protests have also occurred over economic hardship and rising fuel costs. For example, traders and commercial transport operators protested in Enugu on September 16 over higher taxes and fuel prices.
The viral caption reflects a genuine current concern, but the video does not prove a September 2026 mass protest over the latest fuel-price increase.
Conclusion
In summary, the viral video shows old footage from the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests, not a recent demonstration over the latest petrol-price increase. While Nigerians have held recent protests over economic hardship and fuel costs, the video was reused with a new caption and overlay to create a misleading present-day context.
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