FACT-CHECK: Photo Shared By Reno Omokri To Depict Port Harcourt Seaport Is FALSE

A reverse image search shows the port is in Italy.

A picture posted by Reno Omokri, a former aide to former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, depicting a ship unloading goods at a seaport in the city of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State in Nigeria is false, checks by THE WHISTLER have shown.

Omokri had, on September 12th, 2022, posted a picture on his verified Twitter handle showing a ship unloading cargo at a port and claimed that it was a seaport in the city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He alleged that the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had asked his fellow Yoruba people not to vote for the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, on the grounds that he would build a port in that city.  

A Google Lens search of the image, however, reveals that the photo is of the Port of Gioia Tauro, a large seaport in southern Italy.  

Further checks on Yandex and TinEye also corroborated the origin of the photo. 

Although it was observed that other Nigerian news platforms erroneously used the image to depict a port in the city of Port Harcourt, Omokri’s assertion is nevertheless false.

Furthermore, the original image of the Port of Port Harcourt as obtained on the official website of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) bore no similitude to the image used by Omokri.

The above image shows the entrance to the actual Port Harcourt port. [Source: Nigerian Ports Authority]

VERDICT: Reno Omokri used an image of the Port of Gioia Tauro in Italy to wrongly depict the seaport in the city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Therefore, the post is FALSE.