The July coup in Niger is fuelling disinformation in neighbouring Nigeria. Several accounts on social media recently claimed that a video they shared showed the Nigerien finance minister crying after coup leaders gave him an ultimatum to account for stolen funds or face certain death. But the claim is false: the clip, which was taken in 2021, shows former justice minister Marou Amadou and is unrelated to the coup.

“EVERY DAY FOR THE THIEF...Below is the Finance minister of Niger Republic, having been told by the new military Junta to account for all the stolen money of the country in the next 48 hrs or face execution by firing squad (sic),” reads a post published on Twitter, which is being rebranded as 'X', on July 28, 2023.

Shared more than 4,400 times, the post features a video of a crying man sitting behind a microphone, dressed in a lilac-coloured traditional babanriga and wearing a green scarf around his neck.

The same claim was also shared by several accounts on X (including here, here and here), Facebook (here and here), and WhatsApp.

American professor of applied economics Steve Hanke (archived here) also shared the claim (archived here).

Niger coup

A group of soldiers detained and deposed Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26, 2023.

General Abdourahamane Tiani, the chief of the presidential guard who led the putschists, declared himself the new leader of the jihadist-hit African nation three days later.

An army colonel, Amadou...

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