Fact Check: Highway robbery video was not filmed in Kenya
A video showing motorists under attack by a group of thugs on a highway in the dead of the night was not filmed in Kenya, Nairobi News has established.
In the said video which has gone viral on social media in Kenya, half a dozen people are seen emerging from a nearby thicket and attacking a number of cars waiting in traffic.
06:44 Always close your car windows and doors when stuck in traffic jam to stay safe from attacks from highway robbers and incidences of robbery with violence. pic.twitter.com/femA0QgY9f via @JamalGaddafi
— Ma3Route (@Ma3Route) February 15, 2022
Nairobi News followed up on the incident and can confirm it likely occurred in Botswana, where the thugs attacked the country’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Edwin Dikoloti, and left him with injuries, according to Mmegi Online.
A google image reverse search shows that the video was posted on Facebook on February 14, 2022, by Mmegi Online, a Botswana-based online publication, stating that the incident occurred in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital city, on Friday, February 11.
11/02/2022
Traffic light ya ratelwa, ya tsenelelwa when there's no car. ☝?Be watchful of any movement in your surroundings. Fa ole ko pele you are safe. Other's lives depend on you! pic.twitter.com/d0YLKGE8ss— ???Nkalanga we Jackalas No.1??? (@ShxcksBW) February 14, 2022
According to local police, the minister was using his personal Mercedes Benz car when three assailants attacked him.
He was attacked whilst traffic was backed up towards the highway’s traffic lights.
“The three men pounced on him, broke the driver’s window and scratched him with a sharp object on his hands and leg and escaped the crime scene. Luckily they did not steal anything from him but investigations into the matter are ongoing to locate and arrest the suspects. The minister was treated for minor injuries and was released the same evening,” police said.
If you want to know if a video is real or fake, one can use tools like Amnesty International’s YouTube Dataviewer or download the InVid browser extension.
While the former focuses exclusively on YouTube, the latter allows people to paste a link from YouTube, Facebook or Twitter to get more information about its origins, as well as pull out key frames for further inspection.