By Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi

Claim: A Facebook user, Augustine White, has posted a video with the claim that a bloody rain fell in Otta, Ogun State.   Verdict: FALSE. The Raindrops from the video are colourless and some parts of the flooded areas were not as bloody as claimed.  

Full Text: A Facebook user, Austine White on September 9, 2020, posted a video, accompanied with some pictures and claimed that they were images of bloody rainfall. The post was tagged, “What a Miracle!!! Bloody rain in Otta”.  Otta is a town in Ogun State in the  southwest region of Nigeria.

As of September 12, when Dubawa checked, the post had garnered 31 comments and 1.2 thousand people have shared. Majority of the people who commented doubted the post while some others called for authorities to take action.

The pictures were posted in several Facebook groups. Some Facebook users who reposted the pictures of the bloody flooded areas followed it with some fearful comments including that Nigerians have really offended God. For instance, Amaka Uguru wrote; “OMG!!! Are the end time here? An eyewitness said there was 'bloody rain' in Otta yesterday. Can People in Otta pls confirm????” The Post also made it to Twitter.

On Twitter, Biafra Mission TV with the handle @Victor35517418 posted with the caption “Heavy Rain turn to Blood in Otta Ogun State” Another Twitter user with the handle @Erasmus_Brother posted the pictures with caption “As it rained heavily in Otta Yesterday, the residents witnessed a strange phenomenon.

The rain turned blood and the people were in shock. This is the first time in Nigeria rain is seen falling from the sky in the form of blood”.

Verification: A closer look at the video shows that the rain water still falling as the video was recorded is colourless, contrary to the claim that it is red. It was also observed from a tiled portion of the area where the rain fell has colourless water.

Comments from other Facebook users who saw the post also suggest it was false. For instance, HonourNk Benedict responded with the words; “This is really fake News”. Another facebook user says; “Is a big lie” Ayanniran Adelina Adigun also doubted the post saying; “Why the rain not touching vehicles, only in the gutter and people’s clothes did not soak with Blood, there is God ooo”

Another responder, Benjamin Ailenotor, said those who stay in Sango under bridge, close to Otta, did not hear of the happening except for the video posted. Queen Zeyidah Shukuraht Asshakuur also replied Benjamin Ailenotor, saying, “ abi ooooo sango ni ooo If not that am just seeing it now, I never heard it from any1”

However, no one could ascertain the real cause of the redness of the water but some people who commented on some of the posts believe that it was caused by waste discharged from one of the factories within Otta.

Uchenna Okonkwo, with the comment “Abattoir blood” suggested that the redness is as a result of animal blood from an abattoir.

Habeeblah Alarape Aridunuomo on the other hand suggested the redness is as a result of chemical flow from a nearby factory. She added, “ Pls stop misleading people, ask who is near the place it was a chemical from a near factory”.

To further verify, Dubawa reached out to a resident in Otta. The resident, who wants to be identified simply as  Tosin, described the content of the video as fake.  “I was on the road when it started raining. My clothes were soaked in the rain and nothing like bloody rain”, Tosin said.

Conclusion: The video and pictures circulating on Facebook claiming to be a bloody rain in Otta is false. The drops from the rain are colourless and some of the areas shown on the video are not bloody as claimed.

The researcher produced this fact-check under the auspices of the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship partnership with by NEWSWIRENGR to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.