While they should have been at a new restaurant, the first two options weren’t open, so they had to settle for the one he suggested the first time he brought it up.
They arrived at the restaurant around 11 pm and left by 12:30. They arrived at his place at 1 am.
“I got pissed and got off the bed, and this guy begged that he would leave the bed and let me sleep, only for me to wake up to him whispering in my ears and using my hands to jerk himself,” Divine continued her narration.
Accused of telling a lie, Divine posted videos of a conversation with Pelumi.
“Pelumi, you touched me inappropriately. Do you know how many times I asked you to stop, and you did not stop? I told you no, I don’t want to do it. Why were you still doing it?” [sic] Divine said.
Pelumi replied, “ I didn’t know you were sleeping, common now”.
This is where the line of consent needs to be drawn.
Consent means approval or permission by someone in authority to carry out a particular action. Many times, when it comes to sexual relationships—especially in heterosexual relationships and socialisation—it is often ignored, particularly on the female’s part, just like what transpired between Pelumi and Divine.
When issues regarding consent to sexual relations are revealed, some popular phrases which are used by the perpetrators and supporters of such actions are as follows; “Why did you go to his house; haven’t we had sex before; it’s not like you are a virgin; I’ve been giving you money and gifts; when women say no it really means yes; why did you wear that short skirt; but you know I can’t help myself around you” and many others.
These are some of the words always used as defences when the consent of the other party is not respected.
Consent saying YES or NO in any situation without being mandated to, without any form of coercion or duress, retaliation, punishment, or fear.
Consent must be free, informed, and voluntary. This means that a person must not be coerced to give consent, but instead must give it willingly, with sufficient information to guide them in making that decision.
According to Gladys Emmanuel, a human rights lawyer, “going to another person’s house, which is a social behaviour, accepting gifts, going on a date, spending time together, does not imply consent.” She further said that prior consensual sex does not automatically mean that there was consent on a later occasion.
According to Section 357 of the Criminal Code Act (applicable in Southern states), The Penal Code (applicable in Northern States), Under the VAPP Act (in the FCT Jursidiction) defined Rape as intentional penetration without consent, or where consent was incorrectly obtained (force, threats, intimidation, fraud, use of substances to impair will, impersonation, etc.
The legal interpretation of these laws suggests that consent must be for the moment. That is, consent obtained two weeks ago or yesterday cannot be applied to the incident of today. Each sexual encounter requires either free voluntary consent or the absence of coercion and the absence of fraud. Consent must be for the moment.
Busola Ojo-Oba, a social worker and SGBV prevention specialist, told ROUNDCHECK that consent can be described as F- freely given, R- reversible, I- informed, E- Enthusiastic, and S- Specific.
“We grew up in a society that told us that when women say no, it might mean yes, or the man should add more pressure, however that’s the patriarchy talking,” she noted.
According to her, a relationship where one party fears negative consequences for saying “no” is built on a power imbalance, making genuine consent impossible.
When a boss, lecturer, or anyone in a position of authority pursues someone dependent on them, the other person’s choices are influenced by fear of punishment, retaliation, or loss. Such relationships shouldn’t exist because consent must follow the principles of FRIES, and fear or duress automatically violates that standard.
What Does The Law Say?
Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015 treat non-consent or no consent as any sexual intercourse or behaviour obtained by force, by threats, by intimidation, by fraud or deception. Therefore, situations like visiting a person, accepting gifts, and being friendly do not automatically equate consent to sex.
The law recognises that not physically resisting is not the same as consenting. Many individuals or survivors would freeze from fear or stay quiet during an assault, while some would struggle; they are all trauma responses.
Silence or the lack of struggle is not and should not be deemed as a voluntary agreement.
Under the Nigerian constitution, the age of adulthood is 18 years and above. Looking extensively at the Child’s Rights Act of 2003, sexual intercourse with a child, which is a person under the age of 18 years, is a criminal offence.
The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015, the criminal code, and the penal codes that operate in different parts of the country, also deem this a criminal offence.
According to Gladys, an adult who is involved in this scenario can be charged with statutory or unlawful sexual intercourse based on the way it is viewed by the state.
Do People Understand Consent?
A lot of people ignore consent and make excuses when issues concerning sexual harassment are raised.
An X user with username @SoulSageSay said, “A woman dressing sexy, flirting, walking into your house, or kissing you is broadcasting desire whether she admits it or not.”
Another X user with the username @GeoffreyNwakpa said, “I am not saying he’s right, but let’s go to the beginning. Wetin you go find for him house?” [sic].
@Trhymesz is another user in X who ignores consent through his tweet “This story is never clear, how did y’all end up in the same room in the first place? Start from that part. We listen, we won’t judge……yet”. [sic]
Statements like “what were you wearing, what time were you outside, why did you go to his house, you were giving him signals, how did you end up on the same bed, he was giving you gifts and money,” and many others are rhetoric that enable victim blaming, and this does not equal consent.
Consent has to be freely given and can be withdrawn at any time.
EDITOR’s NOTE: This is a curated piece emerging from social conversations monitored and expanded by the author for a broader perspective with the sole intent to enlighten readers.
]]>At first, it was harmless, but on closer look, several other TikTok users began to believe this claim as it continued to generate conversation.
With the username irewolegodwin and about 334.8k followers, this viral video came with a series of claims concerning the use of Pregnancy Test ( PT) strips.
His claims were pointing to one single thing- that a pregnancy test strip does not reveal the pregnancy status of a woman, but rather that the strip can still be positive even when a person is not pregnant.
Could this be true?
“If you put soap or bleach, it is going to read positive; they know, we don’t know. If you put too much urine, it is going to read positive; they know, we don’t know. E get some kind medicine wey you go use, even you as a man, if you piss dia, e go read positive”[sic]. These were the exact words of this Nigerian TikToker, wherein he made the claims.
In the video posted on January 31, 2025, he has gathered 48.1k likes, 1843 comments, 6133 shares and 4490 saves.
This Nigerian TikToker went on to add that even male urine can make a pregnancy test strip show positive.
We broke down the claims as follows
- If one makes use of Coke or soda on the strip, it would read positively
- If one makes use of soap or bleach, the strip would read positive
- If excess urine is used for the test, it would read positive.
- A man’s urine would read positive
How Does a Pregnancy Test Strip Work?
A pregnancy test strip works by detecting the level of hcg ( Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in the user’s urine.
This hcg is the hormone produced by the placenta after a fertilised egg attaches to the Uterine lining.
According to its use, if the pregnancy test strip shows two red lines, the user is positive, and if it reads a single red line, the user is negative.
When does the PT Strip Show Positive or Negative?
A pregnancy test strip is positive when the urine of a pregnant person comes in contact with it and it shows two red lines.
A pregnancy test strip is negative when the urine of a pregnant person comes in contact with it and it shows a single red line.
If the pregnancy test strip doesn’t read any line or shows a line towards the tips immersed in urine, it is If the PT Strip doesn’t read any line or shows a line towards the tips immersed in urine, it is Invalid..
ROUNDCHECK Findings
Having established what a Pregnancy test strip is and how it can be either positive or negative. We delve into a practical verification process to debunk this claim.
Verification Process
This researcher bought samples of unused Pregnancy Test Strips for the sole purpose of experimenting with them using the claims by the Nigerian Tiktoker.
We dipped them into three liquid substances: Coke, Soap and Urine.
The pregnancy test strip dipped into Coke and soap came out negative, and the one dipped into excess urine came out invalid.
- Can Coke/ Soda Make a PT Strip read Positive?
Soda consists of water, flavourings, sugar or artificial sweetener, additives like Citric Acid amongst others, making it impossible for it to contain hcg. Practical checks, in which the result can be found below, emphasise that it is impossible.
The pregnancy test strip, when dipped into a certain amount of soda, showed negative.
This dispels the claim by the Tiktoker that a Pregnancy test strip shows positive when dipped into soda.
- Can Soap And Bleach Make a Pregnancy Test Strip Show Positive
Soap is made up of the following composition: Sodium Silicate, Soda Ash, Sodium Sulphate, Beizeme Sulphate, amongst others.
This researcher dipped a sample of an unused Pregnancy test strip in soap to test if the result would show positive, as the Tiktoker had claimed.
Practical checks, in which the result can be found below, show the impossibility of this claim, as the Pregnancy Test Strip, when dipped into a soap solution, showed negative.
Further research showed that the composition of soap can not make pregnancy-related test strips positive.
- Can Using Too Much Urine Make a PT Strip Read Positive
Practical checks on the authenticity of this claim show that the result obtained from the pregnancy test strip would be invalid. This is because the quantity of urine would make it possible for the strip to accurately determine the level of hcg in the urine.
Experts provide insights
In an interview with ROUNDCHECK, Dr. Charles Emuchay, a medical laboratory scientist with over 20 years of experience, clarified that pregnancy test strips detect the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), not antibodies, as commonly misunderstood. “The hormone that the test detects is hCG, and it begins to appear in the blood and urine after a fertilised egg implants in the uterus,” he said
According to him, hCG detection through blood (serum) is often possible within the first week after a missed period, and is more sensitive than urine testing. Urine-based tests typically pick up the hormone from the second week onward, when the concentration has increased.
“This is why early clinical tests often rely on serum hCG for higher accuracy,” he said.
Dr. Emuchay emphasised that hCG levels may remain in the body for weeks, even in situations when a pregnancy ends, either through miscarriage or abortion.
“So even after the pregnancy has been terminated, the hormone doesn’t disappear immediately. It can remain for up to a month or more, which can lead to a false positive result,” he noted.
Dr. Emuchay added that in rare situations, a positive pregnancy test result could be caused by non-pregnancy-related conditions such as
- Hormonal imbalances that elevate hCG levels in the blood.
- Tumours, including certain cancers, can produce hormones that mimic hCG.
- Molar pregnancies (Hydatidiform mole), a condition where abnormal tissue grows in the uterus and causes extremely high hCG levels far above what is found in pregnancies
Dr. Emuchay said such cases can be distinguished using dilution tests. “With a molar pregnancy, even when we dilute the sample heavily, it still tests positive. That’s a key way to differentiate it from a normal pregnancy.”
On viral claims that substances like soda, detergent can cause false positives on pregnancy strips, Dr. Emuchay declared them false.
“That’s not scientific. In the lab, we follow standard operating procedures (SOPs). Anything done outside the SOP is considered unreliable and invalid. Results from unapproved methods have no place in professional practice,” Dr. Emuchay explained.
To further understand how test strips work and why misuse can lead to confusion, ROUNDCHECK also spoke with Adebayo Ayomide, another medical laboratory scientist.
Ayomide explained that hCG is produced only after implantation and is the key element that pregnancy test strips are designed to detect. She emphasised that serum testing is preferred by medical professionals because it is precise, and can be detected earlier, compared to urine.
“Blood tests can detect hCG as early as six days after fertilisation. That’s why hospitals rely on them for more accurate and early diagnosis,” she said.
Ayomide also listed several factors that can interfere with a pregnancy test strip by especially when done at home. They are:
- Unclean or contaminated collection containers, such as cups with soap residue or traces of disinfectants.
- Chemical interference, including certain household substances that may alter the chemical balance in the test.
- Bacterial contamination can affect urine pH and lead to inaccurate results.
- Improper timing, such as reading results too early or too late.
- Expired or poorly stored test kits can degrade the chemical reagents and yield false outcomes.
“There are also certain medical conditions, like some tumours that can produce hCG and trick the test into showing a false positive”, she added. “But these are rare, and proper laboratory evaluation can rule them out.”
Verdict
The above-mentioned claims are INCORRECT.
It is important that the above-mentioned claim is fact-checked as it speaks on a sensitive health issue, which is pregnancy. Misinformation, such as using coke, soap or excess urine, can cause confusion and decision-making based on fake information.
It arms the public with ample information towards making informed decisions, prevents the spread of myths and most importantly, retains the confidence in public health workers and services.
Tips on How to Effectively Use a PT Strip
- Use the first morning urine
- Avoid excess fluid intake before testing to prevent the dilution of hCG level.
- Follow the instructions carefully
- Consult results for professional confirmation from a healthcare professional