Unproven claims say pipo dey sell dia toes $40k for Zimbabwe dey trend for Nigeria

One tori don dey go upandan about pipo wey dey try beat poverty for Zimbabwe to sell dia body part.

Di reports bin claim say some pipo dey sell dia toes for as much as $40,000.

Di BBC Disinformation Unit later trace di tori to one post by one Zimbabwean blog Gambakwe.

For one post e publish on May 28, 2022, Gambakwe write “suspected South African sangomas allegedly offer high pay-outs for toes to unemployed Harare youths”.

Sangoma na di Zulu word for traditional healer or diviner.

Di blog base e report on one WhatsApp message wey e claim say e dey trend on social media for Zimbabwe.

Di "trade in toes", according to Gambakwe, dey happun for Ximex Mall in Harare, di capital of Zimbabwe.

Di tori don also enta many African kontris wit pipo from Uganda and Nigeria dey tweet about am.

Twitter user @joyie7star from Kampala, Uganda echo di unfounded claims to im 6,881 followers.

For Nigeria, @InnocentZikky tweet wey also expand on di claims get 2,668 retweet and gada 4731 likes in 18 hours.

Dis particular tweet use some of di fotos from Gambakwe tori wit di tweet.

Kenyan Radio station 933 KFM also tweet di tori dey ask followers which body part dem dey willing to sell.

Zimbabwean newspaper H-Metro tweet one interview wit traders for Ximex Mall wey say strangers bin don dey come ask dem if dem sabi how dem fit benefit from di trade.

Some of di traders tell H-Metro say dem tell pipo wey contact dem say di tori na just “rumours”.

Di tori dey true?

BBC Disinformation Unit don review two videos wey dem say e show pipo wey don sell dia toes or dey in di process of selling dia toes and confam through careful observation say e dey staged.

For one video, one man fold e toes and cover am wit plaster to make am look like e don cut.

For di other video, dem show one man wey be like e dey in di process of cutting e toe, but e no show any sign say di process dey real and e be like prank wey dey feed off di trending tori, especially as di man wey be like dem dey “amputate” e toe dey smile for di video.

Di tori also dey similar to oda tori wey don trend for different parts of Africa in di past about ppo wey dey sell dia body parts for money rituals.

However, dis social media trends sometimes dey get real-life implications as dem dey sometimes believe am and pipo dey try to re-enact di rituals.

For January 2022, two teenagers and dia 20 year old friend chop arrest for Nigeria for allegedly killing one teenage girl for ritual purpose.

One of di suspects allegedly confess say na ontop social media dem get di idea from.

For Malawi, One court also dey expected to sentence five pipo over di 2018 killing of a man wit albinism on June 27, 2022.

Di murder of pipo wit albinism for Malawi dey linked to rituals associated wit witchcraft rituals wey dem dey believe say e dey bring good luck or wealth to di practitioners.