COVID-19 Vaccination in Mozambique or Tear Gas in Nigeria? What does the Video Portray?

On October 4^th, the Facebook user “Zura” published a post claiming that in one of the schools of Mozambique, children are being vaccinated against the will of their parents. The post is accompanied by a video depicting children trying to run away from the school building, some even attempting to jump from the second floor. The description claimed that to avoid vaccination, children are even willing to jump from the school balcony.

In fact, the video was recorded not in Mozambique but in Nigeria eight months prior to the emergence of the pandemic and depicts the panic caused by the incineration of tear gas in Port Harcourt secondary school.

In May 2019, the explosion of a tear gas canister at a school in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt triggered panic. Tear gas was brought to school by one of the students. The incident took place in May 2019, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and has nothing to do with mandatory vaccination.

A Guardian.ng article published on May 26^th, 2019, states that a 17-year-old student was questioned for bringing tear gas to the school and accidentally insinuating it. Several students were reportedly injured during the incident.

On May 27^th, 2019, the video was also published on TVC News Nigeria’s YouTube channel. In the story, a police officer explained that the incident was not related to terrorism or cultism. The tear gas belonged to the student’s deceased uncle, who used to be a police officer. Nonetheless, an investigation was launched to determine how the tear gas fell into the hands of a 17-year-old student. The story clearly shows the school building, from the balcony of which children jump in the video spread on social networks.

The disinformation disseminated on social media has also been fact-checked by the international organization Сheckyourfact. Their examination took place in February 2021. The report states that in February 2021, Nigeria did not yet introduce the vaccine against Covid-19, and the incident occurred at a secondary school in Port Harcourt in May 2019.

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