A short viral video has left many Nigerians stunned and disgusted. Posted on the evening of 23 August 2026 by user @Prince_dc21_, the clip shows a man in Lagos repeatedly reaching into a filthy, stagnant drainage channel and pulling out large, mud-caked yams. In the footage, the man bends over the open gutter, digs through the dark, debris-filled water, and lifts out tuber after tuber, stacking them on the ground beside the drain.
According to the original poster, when the man was asked what he was doing, he claimed he was "preserving" the yams by keeping them inside the gutter - the post questioned when open drains became an acceptable storage method. Not everyone accepted the explanation: some commenters suggested the yams may simply have fallen into the gutter and he was only retrieving them, while others treated the clip as another example of everyday sanitation challenges in Lagos.
Regardless of motive, the images triggered widespread reactions from shock and dark humour to serious concern about food safety - open gutters in densely populated areas carry wastewater, refuse and contaminants. The video has racked up tens of thousands of views and continues to fuel discussion about hygiene standards, food handling and living conditions in parts of the city.
(YouTube: "Yams from the Gutter: The Viral Lagos Video That's Sparking Hygiene Outrage" - GlimpseTV)
