FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Rocks Shipped To A Nigerian Port Instead Of Cars?

An image shared on Facebook over 400 times allegedly shows a rock-filled shipping container in Calabar, Nigeria, that was sent to people who were expecting to receive two cars.

Verdict: False

The image actually shows a rock sample in Malawi that was prevented from being shipped to China.

Fact Check:

In the picture, three men can be seen looking into an open shipping container packed with a large boulder and multiple smaller rocks. The Nov. 28 Facebook post claims it was taken “this morning at Calabar port,” adding, “They were waiting for two Toyota Corolla vehicles , bought online from Dubai.” Calabar is a port city on Nigeria’s Calabar River.

However, the photo was not taken anywhere in Nigeria. BBC News displayed a tweet showing footage of the same scene in a March 26 report titled “Malawi stops ‘precious stone’ leaving for China.” The shipping container held a massive stone that, at the time, the Malawian government stopped from being shipped to China, according to BBC News.

Malawian Minister for Mines Rashid Gaffar told BBC News he had temporarily barred its exportation so his ministry could determine if the stone was sold for a fair price. Two Chinese citizens had been fined when they attempted to ship it to China two years earlier, BBC News reported. (RELATED: Does This Video Show Nigerian Students Jumping From A School Building To Avoid Taking COVID-19 Vaccines?)

A version of the image in the Facebook post appeared in a March 26 Malawi 24 article. The Nigeria-based Plus TV Africa also posted a report on YouTube that discussed the Malawian government halting the stone’s shipment and included part of the tweet’s footage.

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