Tanzania: No Evidence Video Shows Fulani Boy Eating Human Arm, Most Likely From Tanzania and Baboon Meat
IN SHORT: Some Facebook users have posted a video with the claim it shows a young Fulani boy eating a human arm. But there’s no evidence the boy is Fulani or that the meat isn’t monkey, most likely baboon.
A video of a young boy eating what looks like a charred human arm is circulating online in Nigeria.
One such post, published 12 April 2025, has a caption: “Fulani boy eating human flesh… God have mercy And we still call ourselves one Nigeria ????”
A clip of a woman commenting on the boy’s actions has been superimposed on the original footage in the video.
The Fulani are a dispersed group of cattle herders scattered across West Africa. In Nigeria, conflict between Fulani herders and farming communities has escalated because of competition over land and resources.
The group has also been linked to armed attacks, kidnappings and banditry, but there is no evidence that all Fulani are involved in criminal activities.
The eating of human flesh by humans is called cannibalism. While the custom has historically been widely spread, it is considered taboo in most modern societies.
The video, viewed over a million times, was posted with a caption in the Yoruba language that translates to: “It’s so powerful! Attackers burn and eat a person they kidnapped.”
The Yoruba are an ethnic group, mainly living in southwestern Nigeria.
The same video was found here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But does the video show a Fulani boy eating human flesh? We checked.
Video likely originated in Tanzania
Africa Check broke down the video into frames and carried out a Google reverse image search. We found a video on YouTube showing the same boy wearing the same jersey, with the caption: “A Boy From Hadzabe Tribe preparing a baboon barbecue deep in the forest !”
The Hadzabe tribe, who live in the East African country of Tanzania, is widely known for its nomadic lifestyle, reliance on hunting and gathering for food, and unique cultural practices.
Videos of the Hadzabe eating unusual animals, particularly other primates, have become popular on social media.
The meat the boy in the video is eating does look like a human arm, but other primate body parts could easily be mistaken for human, especially when charred. Primates are a group of mammals that includes monkeys, apes and humans. Baboons are a type of monkey.
The viral video, with the claim it shows a Fulani boy, features a tag that shows it’s a Facebook reel, or a short-form vertical video clip, similar to Instagram and TikTok.
Although some Facebook users reposting the video have zoomed in or blocked telling details of the original source, the “Reels” tag shows they found the original video on Facebook.
We then searched for the YouTube video caption in Facebook’s search engine and this led us to the page Hadzabe Lifestyle, followed by over 378,000 users. The page featured a video on 10 April of a boy preparing what is described as a “baboon barbecue” in the caption.
A thorough manual search of the reels page finally led us to a reel posted on 8 April with the caption: “A Hadzabe boy enjoying a tasty baboon barbecue deep in the forest ! Would you eat this.”
Although Africa Check can’t confirm whether the language spoken in the video is that of the Hadzabe people, a Fula-speaking person confirmed to us that the language is not Fula, the language of the Fulani people.
While we also can’t conclusively say where the video was filmed or what it shows, there is no evidence it is from Nigeria or shows cannibalism. It is likely of a boy from a society where eating baboon meat is not unusual.
The same claim was found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Crédito: Link de origem