The “Nigerian drug dealer” is one of many harmful stereotypes of migrants in South Africa. But the video was shot in the West African country of Liberia.

MARY ALEXANDER • 12 MARCH 2024

“A Nigerian businessman based in South Africa was arrested for allegedly dealing in hard drugs,” reads the caption of a video circulating on social media since 24 February 2024.*

The 10-minute video shows an agitated and handcuffed man answering questions about drugs and money from people behind the camera.

The “Nigerian drug dealer” is a common stereotype in anti-migrant xenophobia in South Africa.

But does the video really show a Nigerian national based in South Africa after his arrest for dealing drugs?

Drug enforcement agency arrests nine ‘Liberian-based Nigerian nationals’

Small and almost illegible text at the top of the video reads:

A well-known spare part dealer (Nigerian National) that goes by the name ‘JAPAN’ from Old Clara Town Bushrod Island was allegedly caught with huge amounts of illicit drugs in his compound in the Sayon Town Community earlier today, Feb 21 2024.

The place names in the text – Clara Town, Sayon Town and Bushrod Island – all indicate that the video was shot in the West African country of Liberia, not South Africa.

Clara Town and Sayon Town are neighbourhoods on Bushrod Island just north of Liberia’s capital of Monrovia on the Atlantic Ocean coast. Clara Town is known for being the birthplace of professional football player and former Liberian president George Weah.

Bushrod Island includes the Freeport of Monrovia, Liberia’s largest seaport.

None of these places are in South Africa.

The video has the watermark of Eben TV Live, a community TV station based in Bushrod Island’s Logan Town.

The original video was posted on the Eben TV Live Facebook page on 22 February. Its description gives more details on the incident.*

These led us to a 22 February report by the New Dawn, a Liberian news website, headlined “LDEA nabs 9 Nigerian drug suspects”.

The report begins: “The Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) has arrested nine Liberian-based Nigerian nationals and two Liberians suspected of running a drug cartel in Sayon Town on Bushrod Island.”

According to the report, the arrests came out of an LDEA sweep of Sayon Town the day before.

The man in the video can be seen in two photos in the New Dawn’s report. He’s one of the nine identified as “Liberian-based Nigerian nationals”.

The video was shot in Liberia, not South Africa. And the man in the video is based in Liberia, not South Africa.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue, or if their posts were misused for disinformation.

Published by Africa Check on 15 March 2024