Does This Video Show Former Minister of Burkina Faso Getting Thrashed? No!

The same claim has been circulating on the internet since 2024.

A video of a man being beaten in public is going viral on the internet with users identifying him as the former Finance Minister of Burkina Faso, who was allegedly caught on corruption charges.

What did the viral claim say?: The text in Telugu on the clip loosely translated to, "This is the African Finance Minister (Burkina Faso). He was caught in corruption. President Ibrahim handed it over to the people for punishment (sic)."

We received a query about the viral claim on our WhatsApp tipline as well. An archive of a similar claim could be accessed here.

What are the facts?: The video has been available on the internet since 2024, when he was misidentified as the former Transport Minister of Burkina Faso named Vincent Dabilgou. This makes the claim false.

What led us to the truth?: On conducting a round of reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video, we found the same visuals dating back to June 2024.

• During that time, the same clip was shared with users identifying the man as former Transport Minister Dabilgou.

• These posts, too, claimed that he was handed over to the public for allegedly committing financial fraud.

• You can view some of the posts here, here, and here.

About Dabilgou's prison sentence: We searched on Google with the words "Vincent Dabilgou arrest" and came across a news report published by Barron's.

• It said that a court in Burkina Faso sentenced Dabilgou to 11 years in prison on corruption and embezzlement charges.

• He served as the chief of the New Era for Democracy (NTD) party, which was the third largest in the parliament before the military takeover.

• Dabilgou also served as the transport minister until January 2022.

• A similar report was shared by the West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR).

Comparing visuals: Team WebQoof further compared the person seen in the viral video to an image of Dabilgou and found that both of them were different individuals.

• A comparison clearly highlights the distinct facial features.

What else did we find?: Dubawa, a fact-checking organisation in West Africa, had debunked the viral claim and had concluded that the man was not Dabilgou in the video.

• The organisation had contacted a journalist named Diakaridia Siribiė, working with a newspaper in Burkina Faso, who confirmed that the victim was not the former Transport Minister.

Conclusion: While we could not independently verify the context or location of the video, it is clear that the viral claim is false as the man seen in the video is not a former minister of Burkina Faso.

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