Did people die in Anambra after receiving calls from a strange number?

A video has surfaced online showing people mourning over dead bodies laid on the grass. 

The video being shared on WhatsApp shows corpses of children and adults lying on the ground with their loved ones crying over them. Those said to have narrowly escaped death can also be seen receiving medical attention.

According to a voice in the video, those being mourned died in Nnewi, Anambra state after they picked calls from a phone number that starts with +666999.

This claim is FALSE!

Verification:

We subjected the video to keyframe analysis on InVID a toolkit used to identify the source of visual content on the internet.

Running a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video, it was established that the video was from a stampede that occurred at a church outreach in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

On May 28, 2022, no fewer than 31 persons were confirmed dead in a stampede at a ‘Shop for free’ program organized by a pentecostal church, Kings Assembly at the Polo Club in Port Harcourt.

“From foodstuff to household items, furniture and supplies, clothes, shoes and sundry items for adults and kids, there is no limit to the gift items that are given out during this event,” a statement on the church’s website reads.

The church was said to have slated the event for 9 am on the said date but people arrived as early as 6:30 am to partake in the event.

Later on, some sportsmen arrived at the Polo Club, an opportunity the crowd seized to access the church’s tent. Unfortunately, a stampede occurred resulting in the death of about thirty persons.

The video was shared at the time on social media capturing moments people were mourning their loved ones while injured persons were being resuscitated.

This story was also covered by some major national dailies in late May when it happened. 

Conclusion 

The claim that people died in Anambra as a result of picking calls from a strange telephone number (+666999) is false. Rather a stampede occurred in Port Harcourt three months ago, leading to the deaths of dozens of people.