News Verifier Africa

The radio drama series, Àrùn ń rìnhòòhò is aimed at disbanding the rumors and misinformation related with COVID-19 & its vaccines. The title of this episode is Ogun Èṣù. 

The characters featured in this episode are: Taye Alaga, voiced by Ajibola Akinyefa; Saamu Eleti-Erin, voiced by Olatunde Falola; Wolii Abẹ Igi Mangoro, voiced by Olamide Folahanmi; Atumọ, voiced by Adeola Omotade; and Anti Nọọsi, voiced by Elizabeth Bamgbose. 

Story Idea: The Wolii told members of his church that there is no such thing as COVID-19, dubbed it as a means that the devil and his children in the government house devised to stop people from going to church when they knew Jesus is about to return. Meanwhile, Anti Nọọsi was declared wanted by Taye Alaga for not submitting herself to the NCDC after contracting COVID-19 and transmitting it to Tafa Alajọ. She later went to meet Wolii for spiritual help, but upon seeing her coughing at the entrance of the church, Wolii ran away and called the NCDC.

The radio drama series, Àrùn ń rìnhòòhò is aimed at disbanding the rumors and misinformation related with COVID-19 & its vaccines. The title of this episode is Ẹní Jẹ Gbì. 

The characters featured in this episode are: Taye Alaga, voiced by Ajibola Akinyefa; Saamu Eleti-Erin, voiced by Olatunde Falola; Iya Ṣaki Onigaari, voiced by Sekinat Adegoke; Baba Mufu Onidanfo, voiced by Adeola Omotade; Anti Nọọsi, voiced by Elizabeth Bamgbose; and Tafa Alajọ, voiced by Adebayo Aare. 

Story Idea: Tafa Alajọ, a local thrift collector, refused to obey the lockdown laws for his daily business. He set out to the community, moving from one house to the other to receive his customers' savings. He had a talk with Saamu Eleti-Erin who further embolden him that COVID-19 is a poor man's disease, especially for people like them who lives in rural area and feed on fresh vegetables. Later, he (Tafa Alajọ) contracted the disease from the local pharmacist, Anti Nurse, and from there, he contracted it to everywhere he stopped by to collect thrift. It will later be revealed that he enhanced the spread of COVID-19 with his business.

The radio drama series, Àrùn ń rìnhòòhò is aimed at disbanding the rumors and misinformation related with COVID-19 & its vaccines. The title of the maiden episode is Kòró Mẹgbẹ́ ẹ̀.  

The characters featured in this episode are: Taye Alaga, voiced by Ajibola Akinyefa; Iya Ajao, voiced by Sekinat Adegoke; Dokita, voiced by Titilayo Akande; Akọwe, voiced by Adebayo Aare; and Anti Nọọsi, voiced by Elizabeth Bamgbose  

Story Idea: Taye Alaga, the Chairman of Ẹni-Afẹ community, traveled to Benin Republic for a three days vacation. Upon his return, he was advised by Dokita who gave him a medical check up to isolate himself for the next 14 days as directed by the government to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Taye Alaga ignored this advise, without knowing that he had already contracted the virus. He unknowingly transmitted it to his friend, Akọwe, and elder sister, Iya Ajao, who also transmitted it to Anti Nurse in her bid to get a cure for what she thought was malaria. At the end of the day, all other three, including Taye Alaga, who first contracted the virus survived it. But Iya Ajao, who is an elderly person did not. She died at the end of the first play. The cause of her death will be revealed and traced to her younger brother, Taye Alaga.

The campaign to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus across the world has been met with serious resistance from anti-vaxxers and others who are hesitant about taking the shot due to some concerns.

One of such concerns is the fear that the vaccines would alter or modify the DNA of those who took them. This fear, like many others about the vaccines continues to spread widely on social media where people who are skeptical about the vaccine have shared them as justification for not taking the vaccines.

Our anchor, Adebayo Aare examined the claim that one’s DNA can be modified by COVID-19 vaccines. It was discovered that claim stating that coronavirus vaccines can alter human DNA started after a misrepresentation of a non-peer-reviewed article that was published in December 2020. The authors of the controversial study, which included two respected biologists from MIT, claimed that the novel coronavirus could modify human DNA. Mind you, the study did not say the vaccine could alter the human DNA but that the virus itself could.

Even at that many experts heavily criticised the conclusion of the study describing it as “strong, dangerous and largely unsupported." However, a conspiracy theory blog, Algora.com, took the report of the study and turned it on its head with the headline: “MIT & Harvard Study Suggests mRNA Vaccine Might Permanently Alter DNA After All," from there, the claim went viral after the misleading article was shared widely on social media.

We interviewed an expert, Dr. Bamidele Iwalokun, a molecular biologist with the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research (NIMR) who shed more light on the rumour and tell us more about why the COVID-19 vaccine cannot alter our DNA. From our interview and rigorous research analyses from renowned medical organization, we arrived at our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim.

The Production Team for this week’s episode are:

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Adebayo Aare – Presenter

The campaign to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus across the world has been met with serious resistance from anti-vaxxers and others who are hesitant about taking the shot due to some concerns.   

One of such concerns is the fear that the vaccines would alter or modify the DNA of those who took them. This fear, like many others about the vaccines continues to spread widely on social media where people who are skeptical about the vaccine have shared them as justification for not taking the vaccines. 

Our anchor, Zainab Sanni, examined the claim that one’s DNA can be modified by COVID-19 vaccines. It was discovered that claim stating that coronavirus vaccines can alter human DNA started after a misrepresentation of a non-peer-reviewed article that was published in December 2020. The authors of the controversial study, which included two respected biologists from MIT, claimed that the novel coronavirus could modify human DNA. Mind you, the study did not say the vaccine could alter the human DNA but that the virus itself could. 

Even at that many experts heavily criticised the conclusion of the study describing it as “strong, dangerous and largely unsupported." However, a conspiracy theory blog, Algora.com, took the report of the study and turned it on its head with the headline: “MIT & Harvard Study Suggests mRNA Vaccine Might Permanently Alter DNA After All," from there, the claim went viral after the misleading article was shared widely on social media. 

We interviewed an expert, Dr. Bamidele Iwalokun, a molecular biologist with the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research (NIMR) who shed more light on the rumour and tell us more about why the COVID-19 vaccine cannot alter our DNA. From our interview and rigorous research analyses from renowned medical organization, we arrived at our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim.  

The Production Team for this week’s episode are:  

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager  

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer  

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Zainab Sanni – Presenter

Sometime in December 2020, prominent anti-vaccine campaigners started a buzz on social media, expressing concerns that the COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility in some women. 

Our anchor, Adebayo Aare examined the claim that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous to women reproductive health and could cause infertility. The origin of this claim can be traced to a December 1, 2020 letter sent by two European anti-vaccination activists to the European Medicines Agency claiming that the COVID-19 “vaccine contains a spike protein called syncytin-1 [that is] vital for the human placenta in women.” This claim generated controversy and topical discussions on social media after Sherri Tenpenny, a prominent anti-vaxxer claimed that the COVID-19 “can bind to the ovary” and that the vaccines are part of a plot by “the globalists and the de-population eugenicists, the stated Satanists who are out to destroy the world.” 

By April 2021, the claim had spread further after prominent feminist author turn anti-vaccination activist, Naomi Wolf, posted a link to a Facebook group claiming “hundreds of women on this page say that they are having bleeding/clotting after vaccination, or that they bleed oddly AROUND vaccinated women. Unconfirmed, needs more investigation, but lots of reports.” We spoke with Dr. Akinyode, who is an epidemiologist throws more light on the claim that the Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility. 

From our interview and rigorous research analyses from renowned medical organization, we arrived at our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim. 

The Production Team for this week’s episode are: 

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager 

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer 

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Adebayo Aare – Presenter

Sometime in December 2020, prominent anti-vaccine campaigners started a buzz on social media, expressing concerns that the COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility in some women.

Our anchor, Zainab Sanni examined the claim that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous to women reproductive health and could cause infertility.

The origin of this claim can be traced to a December 1, 2020 letter sent by two European anti-vaccination activists to the European Medicines Agency claiming that the COVID-19 “vaccine contains a spike protein called syncytin-1 [that is] vital for the human placenta in women.” This claim generated controversy and topical discussions on social media after Sherri Tenpenny, a prominent anti-vaxxer claimed that the COVID-19 “can bind to the ovary” and that the vaccines are part of a plot by “the globalists and the de-population eugenicists, the stated Satanists who are out to destroy the world.”

By April 2021, the claim had spread further after prominent feminist author turn anti-vaccination activist, Naomi Wolf, posted a link to a Facebook group claiming “hundreds of women on this page say that they are having bleeding/clotting after vaccination, or that they bleed oddly AROUND vaccinated women. Unconfirmed, needs more investigation, but lots of reports.”

We spoke with Dr. Akinyode, who is an epidemiologist throws more light on the claim that the Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility. From our interview and rigorous research analyses from renowned medical organization, we arrived at our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim.

The Production Team for this week’s episode are:

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Zainab Sanni – Presenter

In 2020, as the race to develop vaccines to roll back the spread of the coronavirus outbreak which has reached a pandemic proportion, news started spreading on social media and even on some traditional media that the vaccines that were being developed contain microchips which will be implanted in people upon being injected with the vaccine to monitor them. 

On this episode, our anchor, Adebayo Aare, queried the claim that those who take the COVID-19 vaccines are implanted with microchips that have been put in the vaccines. In March 2020, billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates in a chat of the social media site, Reddit, about the pandemic suggested that a time will come when everyone might be required to a digital passport showing their health records. A Swedish biohacking website reported the Reddit discussion of the former richest man in the world with the headline: “Bill Gates will use microchip implants to fight coronavirus.” Since then, the claim has gained massive acclaim by anti-vaxxers through the preaching of Adam Fannin, an American Baptist televangelist and Roger Stone, a former political strategist to a former US President Donald Trump. In Nigeria, two prominent televangelists—Chris Oyakhilome and Chris Okotie—are at the forefront of this rumour and teaching that vaccine is the 666 biblical mark of the beast swollen and that Gates has an agenda to depopulate the earth with it. 

We interviewed Mr. Aliyu Olateju, an ICT expert, who talked about how microchips can be infused into vaccines and if it’s possible that this is contained in the COVID-19 vaccine. And also spoke to Dr. Akinyode, an epidemiologist who talked about microchips inside the COVID-19 vaccine. These twin interviews bring us to our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim. 

The Production Team for this week’s episode are: 

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager 

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer 

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Adebayo Aare – Presenter

In 2020, as the race to develop vaccines to roll back the spread of the coronavirus outbreak which has reached a pandemic proportion, news started spreading on social media and even on some traditional media that the vaccines that were being developed contain microchips which will be implanted in people upon being injected with the vaccine to monitor them. 

On this episode, our anchor, Zainab Sanni, queried the claim that those who take the COVID-19 vaccines are implanted with microchips that have been put in the vaccines. In March 2020, billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates in a chat of the social media site, Reddit, about the pandemic suggested that a time will come when everyone might be required to a digital passport showing their health records. 

A Swedish biohacking website reported the Reddit discussion of the former richest man in the world with the headline: “Bill Gates will use microchip implants to fight coronavirus.” Since then, the claim has gained massive acclaim by anti-vaxxers through the preaching of Adam Fannin, an American Baptist televangelist and Roger Stone, a former political strategist to a former US President Donald Trump. In Nigeria, two prominent televangelists—Chris Oyakhilome and Chris Okotie—are at the forefront of this rumour and teaching that vaccine is the 666 biblical mark of the beast swollen and that Gates has an agenda to depopulate the earth with it. 

We interviewed Mr. Aliyu Olateju, an ICT expert, who talked about how microchips can be infused into vaccines and if it’s possible that this is contained in the COVID-19 vaccine. And also spoke to Dr. Akinyode, an epidemiologist who talked about microchips inside the COVID-19 vaccine. These twin interviews bring us to our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim. 

The Production Team for this week’s episode are: 

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager 

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer 

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Zainab Sanni – Presenter

As the world struggled to end the coronavirus pandemic through vaccination, we have had to deal with obvious disinformation and misinformation about the virus and its vaccines.    

On this episode, our anchor, Adebayo Aare, looked at at the viral claim that “coronavirus vaccines causes magnetism.” Sometime in May, videos of people sticking spoons and coins to their arms whilst claiming the objects stuck to their bodies after they took the Covid-19 vaccine started circulating online. These claims then went viral in June after Dr Sherri Tenpenny, a prominent American anti-vaxxer and author of the book, “Saying No to Vaccines”, told Ohio lawmakers the coronavirus vaccine causes an increase in protein that makes “a metal attached to it.”  

To debunk this claim, we interviewed Dr. B A. Iwalokun, of the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Department in the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), who clarified how vaccines work in a human body. Also, the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there is absolutely no truth to the claim.  

The interview with Dr. Iwalokun and publicly available evidence from a verified public health organisation brings us to our verdict this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim. 

The Production Team for this week’s episode are:  

Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager  

Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer  

Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer

Adebayo Aare – Presenter