Claim: An X user, El-Saheed (@AbdulSaheed19), posted on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, that Nigerian singer-songwriter and record producer, Augustine Miles Kelechi Okechukwu popularly known as Tekno collapsed during his tour in South Africa.
Verdict: The claim is misleading. The person in the video is not Tekno, but rather an old video of a different individual being circulated as new.
Full Text:
On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, an X user, El-Saheed (@AbdulSaheed19), posted a claim that Nigerian singer-songwriter and record producer, Augustine Miles Kelechi Okechukwu popularly known as Tekno collapsed during his tour in South Africa. The post reads: “Breaking News: Nigerian Artist Tekno Collapses in South Africa During His Tour. The cause is still unknown.” At the time of this report, the post had garnered over 8,000 views, 15 likes, and four reposts.
The video quickly went viral on X, becoming one of the top trending topics with over 2,000 posts discussing it. While some users believed the claim, others doubted its authenticity, labeling it as fake news.
One user, Joshua Olusegun (@Leged45), commented, “Tekno’s collapse while performing in South Africa highlights the pressures faced in the music industry. It shows that no one is immune to illness. The cause remains unknown. Get well soon, Tekno.”
Another user, Senior Copywriter Chinedu Junior Ihekwoaba (@thepoetpreneur), added, “If the news about Tekno collapsing during his tour is true, it could be due to excessive drug use. I hope it’s false. If not, he needs to cut down. Wizkid, Davido, Burna, and many others are guilty of this too. They’re setting a bad example for the youth.”
However, X user SportzArena (@Messi_Ronaldoo7) debunked the claim, stating, “Fake News: Tekno Didn’t Collapse. This incident actually occurred in Kenya during the launch of the Bahatis, and the person in the video is Kenyan rapper Prezzo, not Tekno.”
Following the controversy surrounding the video, Punch Metro conducted a fact-checking investigation to verify the accuracy of the claims made.
Verification
To verify the authenticity of the claim, Punch Metro conducted a keyword search using “Tekno + Collapse + South Africa” on Google. The search results revealed that the video in question had been published by Intel Region with the headline, “Video shows moment singer Tekno collapses on stage in South Africa during tour (Watch).” Similarly, Politics Nigeria posted the same video with the caption, “BREAKING: Nigerian Singer, Tekno Collapses in South Africa, Suffers Seizure.”
Punch Metro further analyzed the video using InVidWeVerify, a web-based toolset designed for journalists to verify the authenticity of videos. The keyframe analysis revealed that the video is an old one, dating back to June 2024.
Further investigation showed that the person in the trending video is not Tekno, but Kenyan rapper Jackson Ngechu, popularly known as CMB Prezzo. According to a report by Nairobi News, the incident occurred on Thursday, June 6, when Prezzo fainted during an interview with an online media outlet.
Additionally, Nigerian singer Mr Eazi, who owns the record label Tekno is signed to, has debunked the rumor. In a post on X, clarified that the person in the viral video is not Tekno. He wrote, “Tekno wey dey Malabo.”
Conclusion:
The video is not new, and the man depicted is not Tekno but Kenyan rapper CMB Prezzo. The claim that Tekno collapsed during a tour in South Africa is false.
