Fact-check: Is it true that 7,200 penises were shipped from Nigeria to China?

 Fact-check: Is it true that 7,200 penises were shipped from Nigeria to China?

Seven thousand two hundred and twenty-two human penises shipped from Nigeria in a refrigerated container were ‘intercepted’ in China, according to an unconfirmed report on social media and blogs in Nigeria.

Social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle showed that the article was first published by World News Daily Report on March 19, 2021.

Checks showed that WND, where the story originated is a satirical website and attacked a disclaimer, stating that  it assumes “all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content.”

Further checks by The PUNCH also revealed that the picture accompanying the article was first published in 2016 by Shipping Watch.

The report, which has gone viral on WhatsApp, Facebook Instagram, as well as Twitter, was also reposted by blogs in Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who is one of those who shared it, tweeted, “A ship from Nigeria has been impounded in China whilst trying to smuggle in 7,200 penises.