An international news agency, Agence France-Presse, has debunked a viral report claiming that thousands of human penises shipped from Nigeria in a refrigerated container were intercepted in China.
According to the news agency, the claim is false.
It was learnt that the story originated on a satirical website, and the accompanying photo showing sealed carton boxes was published in an article about a pangolin seizure in 2020.
The article, which was first published by World News Daily Report on March 19, 2021, has been shared nearly 700 times on different social media platforms and reposted by online news.
AFP stated that the article, which has also been circulated in other African countries, including Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo is false and fabricated.
It further noted that the World News Daily Report is a satirical website, which it explains in a disclaimer in its “About Us” section.
The site assumes “all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content.”