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Old skit falsely shared as Nigerian soldiers losing battle against Oyo kidnappers

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
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screenshot of the viral post

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An X user, @Gozie07, has posted a video purportedly showing a Nigerian soldier on the battlefield saying that three men had died and urgently requesting backup.

The user posted the video on May 20, 2026, suggesting that soldiers involved in the operation to rescue the people abducted in Esin-Ele and Yawota communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State recently are facing defeat.

READ : Claims of mass kidnapping in Oyo, state of emergency in South West are FALSE

He captioned the post: “Nigerian soldiers are falling wotowoto (in droves) in Oyo. They will never show you this, they only have the right ammunition when it has to do with IPOB, Biafra matter in south east. The hypocrisy of the military & their govt. Poor stupid soldiers.”

As of May 25, 2026, the post had generated over 500 reposts and more than 900 likes.

CLAIM

Video shows Nigerian soldiers suffering defeat while pursuing kidnappers in Oyo State.

screenshot of the viral post

FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.

The claim surfaced amid public concern over the abduction of pupils and staff from schools in Esin-Ile and Yawota communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, an incident that triggered security operations in the area.

READ ALSO : Viral video of protester calling for military takeover is from Edo not Oyo

However, checks by The FactCheckHub show that the viral footage has no connection to the Oyo kidnapping incident.

The FactCheckHub subjected keyframes from the video to Google Reverse Image Search, which traced the footage to a Facebook content creator known as Oga Dan, who posted the video on May 5, 2026 – ten days before the Oyo abduction occurred.

A review of the account shows that the creator regularly produces staged military-themed skits and battlefield-style content.

Similar videos from the same account, as can be seen here and here, show that the content is fictional and created for entertainment purposes.

This confirms that the footage predates the Oyo incident and was falsely repurposed to support a misleading narrative about the Nigerian military.

VERDICT

The claim that the video shows Nigerian soldiers suffering defeat while pursuing kidnappers in Oyo State is FALSE. The footage is a staged skit that had been online before the Oyo abduction incident and has no connection to the ongoing security operation to rescue the victims.

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Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

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