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Beware! Fake website for Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme circulates online

Pamela Ephraim
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Beware! Fake website for Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme circulates online

The Federal Government in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on August 31 2021 launched the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP).

Although, the programme was announced in June 2021 it was officially launched in August. The youth empowerment initiative is expected to train 20,000 graduates annually.

The programme has an online portal for applications, however a message circulating on WhatsApp shows an entirely different web link to the application.

THE CLAIM

The link in circulation is the website for the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme.

The message in circulation.

THE FINDINGS

The FactCheckHub observed the website attached to the claim has similar characteristics of phishing websites earlier debunked here.

The official website specified for the fellowship application is https://www.njfp.ng/ which is totally different from the fake website archived here.

The suspected phishing website’s  claims the application deadline is on September 25 2021 whereas the application deadline on the official website is October 20 2021.

Screenshot of the fake vs real website
The homepage of the fake website in circulation (left) and the actual Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme webiste (right).

THE VERDICT

Based on the above findings the website in circulation is different from that of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme and therefore, the viral claim is FALSE.

Old ISIS videos resurface online, construed as killing of Christians in Afghanistan

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Old ISIS videos resurface online, construed as killing of Christians in Afghanistan

NOTE: Graphic images, readers discretion is advised.

A video showing footage of gruesome killings is being shared in Nigeria on the WhatsApp platform with the claim they are  Christians executed in Afghanistan by the Taliban for not renouncing their faith. 

The caption of the video which surfaced amid the Taliban take-over of power in Afghanistan reads;

“Happening now in Afghanistan, renounce Christianity or you are executed openly by the Taliban as you can see above[referring to the video]. The Christian community all over the world should rise up against this inhumanity of man to man.”

It ended with a call-to-action to share.

THE CLAIM

The video shows Taliban in Afghanistan killing Christians that did not renounce their faith.

THE FINDINGS

Checks by The FactCheckHub show that  One minute, 36 seconds video in circulation in Nigeria does not show Christians being executed in Afghanistan and therefore false. It is a collage of at least four different clips of incidents which happened at different times.

The FactCheckHub has earlier debunked another video being circulated as Christians wrapped in plastic bags being persecuted in Afghanistan which was actually a video of a protest in Colombia.

Photograph from the first frame showing the Shiite Muslims being killed in Iraq in 2016
Screenshot of ABNA news report about the first footage traced to 2016.

Footage one

The FactCheckHub ran the video through through the WeVerify Image Verification Tool, and discovered the footage were separate videos combined together as one. The first video was traced to September 2016.

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA), an Iranian platform which covers treatment of Shia Muslims across the world reported it as the execution of Shiite Muslims by ISIS thugs in Iraq.

It added that video, released on ISIS terrorist channels, was purportedly filmed in Wilayat North Baghdad.

The video which shows the execution of 50 persons  in an already dug mass grave was also reported by the UK MailOnline in September 2016.

Photograph from the second frame was traced to  the 2014 Speicher Massacre.

Footage two

Using multiple image verification tools – TinEye, Reddit, and Yandex – the footage was traced to multiple reports in 2015.

However, the reports noted that the incident was from a 2014 incident that will later be labelled as the “Speicher Massacre” which saw an estimated 1700 Shia’s killed close to a Speicher military base. Some reports puts the causality figure at 2000.

A report noted those killed were cadet soldiers mostly Shi’ite military, shot dead in Tikrit, a city in Iraq.

“Young men are seen falling from trucks and pleading for their lives before being lay down in shallow graves and sprayed with bullets”, Daily Mail  reports.

Shabestan News Agency also reported the same story here.

Catholic news which also reported the story did not identify the prisoners as Christians contrary to the claim but Shiite military recruits in Tikrit.

Photograph from the third frame was an extension of the Shiite Military incident in Tikrit, Iraq in 2014

Photograph from the third footage was an extension of the Tikrit massacre.

Footage three

The third frame was also traced to the same location. It was an extension of the Tikrit massacre which took place in 2014 and surfaced online in 2015.

Fourth footage shows prisoners lying dead or waiting to be executed.

Footage four

Two frames from the fourth footage were extracted and traced to July 2014.

The Daily Mail reports that the 36-minute film showed different scenes including that of of dozens of prisoners lying face down on the ground, hands bound behind their backs, waiting to be executed and another scene of  hundreds of men with their hands bound, waiting to be shot or lying dead.

The video was released during an  Eid celebration. In its interpretation of the video, the prisoners were referred to as rafidas. The word rafidas is considered unpleasant used to describe the Shi’ite Islamic sect.

A scene from the fourth footage.

THE VERDICT

From the findings above the video does not show Christians being massacred in Afghanistan, the claim is FALSE. The clip is a compilation of old videos linked with ISIS.

Are SIM cards made in Nigeria?

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Are SIM cards made in Nigeria?

MINISTER of Communication and Digital Economy Isa Pantami told the press that Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards are now manufactured in Nigeria, this was met by disbelief in some quarters. 

Pantami told the press that the development is a product of the national policy on local content signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said “after launching the policy until date, SIM cards are being manufactured in Nigeria.”

“Before this administration, SIM cards were being imported into the country but today Nigeria has the capacity to produce SIM cards for the African continent.”

As can be seen from the comment section of a news report (archived here) his statement was met with disbelief.

THE CLAIM

Nigeria manufactures SIM cards.

THE FINDINGS

President Muhammadu Buhari was elected into office on May 29, 2015.

In December 2016, his cabinet member, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment at the time,  Okechukwu Enelamah announced funding support for a local SIM card production firm in Lagos.

A SIM card is a chip that contains information and enables mobile phone users to connect to their telecom operators.

The firm, SecureID, was producing banking and telecom cards before it introduced the SIM card manufacturing line.

The new line was set up with funding support from the Bank of Industry (BOI).

The Minister of Communications at the time, Adebayo Shittu did the official unveiling.

At the event in 2016, Kofo Akinkugbe, the plant’s Chief Executive Officer said the firm holds a global endorsement to serve SIM card users across 19 African countries.

Read also:

Secretary, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbolahan Awonuga confirmed  to the FactCheckHub that the country was importing sim cards for use until the firm started local production.

He also noted it can produce for the African market, “It depends on the patronage but yes, they can produce it.”

Furthermore, Emmanuella Ikekwe an official of the firm told the  FactCheckHub they could produce a billion SIM card if need be, however production is based on demand.

“If you need up to a billion SIMS or more, we can as well produce – whatever quantity you want. But remember there are quantities earmarked for each telecom operator. So it’s dependent on their demands.”

THE VERDICT

From the findings from multiple sources the claim that Nigeria manufactures SIM cards is TRUE.

Claim by FIRS that Nigeria is the only country that collects VAT at subnational level is false

Ajibola Amzat
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Claim by FIRS that Nigeria is the only country that collects VAT at subnational level is false

LEAD of the Special Tax Operations Group at the Federal Inland Revenue Service  (FIRS) Mathew Gbonjubola claimed that there was nowhere in the world, where the administration of Value Added Tax was done at the sub-national level, but checks by The ICIR have shown this claim to be false. 

Gbonjubola made this claim on Wednesday at a press briefing in Abuja while defending reasons why FIRS, a federal agency, could not devolve powers to collect VAT to Nigeria’s 36 states.

“It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to operate VAT at the sub-national level,” he declared.

To drive home his point, he added, “…That is why there is no country in the world that does that.”

The ICIR has checked the administration of tax in other jurisdictions and found countries where value-added taxes are collected at the subnational level contrary to the claim of the FIRS officer.

One of such countries is India where states operate different VAT rules and implementation guidelines. An Indian company with a turnover of more than Rs.5 lakh is required to register and file for VAT at the state where it operates.

READ ALSO:

Similarly, VAT, locally referred to as sale tax, is levied at 17 per cent in Pakistan by four provinces: Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab, and not by the federal authorities.

In fact, rates in other provinces and cities are lower. For example, the Capital Territory of Islamabad, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, and Azad Jammu, charge different rates of VAT on their goods and services ranging between 13 and 16 per cent.

Brazil, the largest federation in South and Latin America, has two kinds of VATs. One is a state sales tax (Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços – ICMS) and the other is a federal excise tax (imposto sobre produtos industrializados – I PI). And the rate of VAT varies from one state to the other.

While Rio de Janeiro charges 19 per cent VAT, states such as Santa Catarina, Espírito Santo, Alagoas and others collect their VAT at 17 per cent rate. States such as Bahia, São Paulo, Sergipe and 11 others charge 18 per cent VAT.

A check of the tax administration system in Canada also reveals that sales taxes are collected at both federal and provincial levels.

The tax collection system in Canada is harmonised in a way that while the federal government collects 5 per cent of sales tax, the provincial governments collect 8 per cent. And some provinces collect as much as 10 per cent in sale tax.

As for the goods and service tax, most businesses collect the tax at the point of sale and then remit the tax to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on behalf of the federating units.

The United States from which Nigeria borrows several of its laws does not collect VAT. The federal government collects income tax, while the states and local governments collect sales taxes and property tax respectively.

In European Union, member states agree to individually collect a minimum of 15 per cent VAT rate, which may be lower for some goods and services.

Therefore, tax administration varies from one EU country to the other. In fact, Switzerland has its own VAT rates, separate from the European Union rate.

These examples have shown that the information shared with the Nigerians by the FIRS official at the press conference on Wednesday was false.

Notwithstanding, The ICR finds that value-added taxes are collected by federal authorities in countries such as Russian Federation, Malaysia and Mexico.

FIRS and state governments such as Lagos and Rivers currently have been at loggerheads regarding who has the legal power to collect VAT.

So far, FIRS is on the wrong side of the law.

This report was  republished from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting.

Video does NOT show Christians wrapped in plastic bags in Afghanistan

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Video does NOT show Christians wrapped in plastic bags in Afghanistan

A video of people wrapped in plastic bags spread on the floor has been shared multiple times on WhatsApp in Nigeria with the claim that they are Christians being maltreated in Afghanistan.

The last batch of U.S.  and allied forces in August 2021 withdrew from Afghanistan, which led to the take-over of the government by the Taliban thereby ushering in Islamic rule in the Central Asian nation.

THE CLAIM

The video shows Christians wrapped in plastic bags in Afghanistan.

A screenshot of the video that was sent to FactCheckHub for verification.

THE FINDINGS

Findings show that the sixty-two seconds video which was sent to the FactCheckHub for verification on September 8 2021 is FALSE, as the footage is from a protest in Colombia, and not Christians in Afghanistan.

Using the WeVerify image verification and Google Reverse Image tools, the video was traced to a Facebook post published on May 26, 2021.

The video which was longer, 11 minutes and 46 seconds, was a live coverage of a protest.

It was captioned “Performance ‘Empaquetados’, Poblado Park.”

It indicated that the footage was a protest to demonstrate against the government at the park located in Medellin city in Colombia.

The footage was also found here on YouTube, posted on May 28 and another here, posted on May 28 – all in 2021.

Read also:

An additional caption translated using Google Translate puts the demonstration as a “tribute to respect people who died in the course of fighting for their rights.”

“A tribute to the people who have been found dead in recent days, drowned, in pieces and in bags. In honour of all those who left their homes to fight for their rights and could not return home,” it read.

The protest was also reported by international media and local media.

The video as shown on YouTube.

Furthermore, the video was already online before the Taliban’s took over power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021.

Earlier on, the video had also been shared in Indonesia as victims of coronavirus; It was however debunked here and here.

Nigeria is prone to religious and ethnic crises, reports the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD). Therefore, alluding that the video shows Christians being maltreated by the predominantly Islamic government of Afghanistan can spark such embers.

THE VERDICT

The footage has nothing to do with Afghanistan or Christians being maltreated. It was a demonstration against the Colombian government. Thus, the claim is FALSE.

Joe Igbokwe makes misleading claim on Nigeria’s agricultural sector growth

Niyi Oyedeji
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Joe Igbokwe makes misleading claim on Nigeria’s agricultural sector growth

IN a bid to show that insecurity in Nigeria did not  impact negatively on the agricultural sector, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Drainage and Water Resources Joe Igbokwe claimed the sector recorded significant growth.

Igbokwe who took to his Facebook page on Wednesday, September 1, claimed that Nigerian agricultural sector recorded over 23 per cent growth in the second quarter of 2021.

“Nigeria is a great country. Despite insecurity, Nigerian agricultural sector recorded over 23 per cent growth in the second quarter of 2021,” his post read.

 THE CLAIM

The agricultural sector recorded over 23 per cent growth in 2021 second quarter.

A screenshot of the claim.

THE FINDINGS

The FactCheckHub findings show that the claim is MISLEADING.

Data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the agricultural sector contributed 23.78 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2021, this is however different from growth.

The NBS calculates growth using various metrics like year-on-year, quarter-on-quarter or half-year.

According to the NBS, in the second quarter of 2021, the agricultural sector grew by 1.30 per cent  year-on-year in real terms. However, between the first and the second quarter of 2021 it grew by 1.03 per cent.

NBS report stating the the agricultural sector grew by 1.30 per cent (year on year) in the second quarter of 2021.

On a half year basis, the sector grew by 1.77 per cent in 2021, this is lower when compared to 1.88 per cent  growth for the first half of 2020.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the sector grew by 5.55 per cent, when compared to the previous quarter.

Igbokwe represented the sector’s contribution to the GDP as growth which is inaccurate.

In the past Igbokwe  made false claim about the arrest of kidnapers who abducted students of Greenfield University.

A photo he shared as President Muhammadu Buhari’s June 2021 visit to Borno  State was fact-check and it was also found to be false.

Source: NBS 2021 second quarter GDP report.

THE VERDICT

Although the agricultural sector contributed 23.78 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2021, the growth however recorded stood at 1.03% in the second quarter of 2021. Therefore, the claim that the agricultural sector recorded over 23 per cent growth in 2021 second quarter is wrong and MISLEADING.

Viral images of football pitch submerged by flood not of Lekan Salami but Hillsborough

Niyi Oyedeji
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Viral images of football pitch submerged by flood not of Lekan Salami but Hillsborough

BARELY 24 hours after the Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde commissioned the remodelled Lekan Salami Stadium,  Adamasingba, Ibadan, the state capital, mixed reactions have trailed the stadium some people described as water-logged.

Although, the roof of the stadium was reportedly leaking and part of the pitch water-logged during the official commissioning of the stadium, a picture has, however, emerged on social media, with people claiming it emanated from the Lekan Salami Stadium.

A Facebook user, Abdullah Ayofe Olaniyi, shared the picture of the pitch submerged by flood, claiming it is that of the recently commissioned Lekan Salami Stadium.

“FLASH: Omituntun International Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State. Engr Se*yi INAROBO , you are doing well 5. 5billion,” his post read.

The post, which was shared on Thursday,  September 2, has gathered 220 shares, 186 comments as of 12noon on Friday, September 3, 2021.

 

THE CLAIM

Lekan Salami pitch submerged by flood.

 

Screenshot of the viral images of Lekan Salami Stadium shared by the Facebook user.

THE FINDINGS

Checks by the FactCheckHub show that the picture emanated from the 2007 flood incident at the Hillsborough pitch of Sheffield Wednesday, located in South Yorkshire, England and not that of the Lekan Salami Stadium in Adamasingba, Ibadan.

A Google reverse image search conducted by the FactCheckHub shows the image first hit the internet on June 26, 2007, when Sheffield Wednesday’s pitch known as Hillsborough was submerged by flood.

According to a Dailymail report, Sheffield Wednesday was forced to close the Hillsborough stadium after it was submerged with heavy floods.

 

THE VERDICT

The viral image of a football pitch submerged by floods and shared by a Facebook user was that of the 2007 flood incident at the Hillsborough pitch of Sheffield Wednesday in England, and not that of Lekan Salami Stadium, thus making the claim FALSE.

No! Kenyan government official did not threaten Larry Madowo on TV

Qosim Suleiman
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No! Kenyan government official did not threaten Larry Madowo on TV

POPULAR Nigerian blog, Instablog9ja, on Thursday, 26th August 2021, posted on its Instagram page a viral video that claimed that a Kenyan government official chided CNN Journalist, Larry Madowo.

The same video was also posted on several YouTube channels albeit with slightly different claims. While Instablog9ja claimed the interviewee was a Kenyan government official, most of the YouTube videos say it was a Ugandan government official.

In the video, Larry Madowo asked his interviewee, “You said that everybody is free in Uganda and yet you, as Internal affairs minister in March, presented a list of 177 people who are under military detention to the parliament and later President Museveni said at least 50 people have been arrested for a treasonable act of opposition, is this the sign of freedom to you.”

The interviewee, a young man (later identified as Mungai Wamutego) with dark afro-like hair veered away from the question and accused Madowo of speaking to a government official without decorum.

“Where you come from, you know you don’t ask such questions to the government. So, I will give you another chance, Larry, please rephrase your questions and ask with a bit of decorum now that you know you are addressing a government official,” the interviewee answered in the video.

Larry, in the video, immediately went further with the questions.

The video, now deleted on Instablog9ja, had garnered over 600,000 views from its over 3.7million Instagram followers.

Though Instablog9ja deleted the video on both its Instagram and Facebook pages, it is still on its Twitter handle @instablog9ja as archived here. However, the video has resurfaced on various YouTube channels days later.

 

THE CLAIM

Kenyan government official chided CNN journalist, Larry Madowo, during a live interview.

 

THE FINDINGS

A quick search on Google and CNN website showed that Larry Madowo did had an interview with Uganda’s Foreign Minister, General Jeje Odongo on Tuesday, 24th August 2021.

Screenshot of the original CNN footage showing Ugandan foreign minister, General Jeje Odongo.

However, unlike a young man with dark afro-like hair, Larry’s interviewee and Uganda’s Foreign Minister is a bald man and quite bulky than the purported interviewee. The only thing related in both videos is Larry Madowo and his questions – the answers and interviewee were altered.

Responding to Larry’s questions, General Odongo said: “I think let’s get our facts correct, it is true a number of individuals were arrested because of disobeying the standard operating procedures…”

The interview however continued on CNN’s The Exchange television programme, where Madowo asked further questions relating to accusations of human rights violations levelled against the Ugandan government.

 

Where did the video come from?

The video was created by Mungai Wamutego, who himself was the interviewee in the doctored version, and posted across his social media pages.

On Facebook, he captions it “No one will show you this! I had an interview with CNN’s Larry Madowo today on The Exchange and am sure he learnt a thing or two about tree zones and what constitutes the constitution. It’s not easy representing the government. #mdimbly”.

On Wamutego’s Twitter page, the Video has recorded almost 300,000 views.

According to his Social Media profiles, Wamutego is a Content Creator, Digital Strategist and Agronomist.

 

VERDICT

The claim is FALSE. No! Kenya government official did not threaten Larry Madowo. The video was doctored to remove visuals of the Ugandan foreign minister and his audio responses from the footage.

 

 

* Qosim Suleiman was a 2020 Fact-Checking Fellow with Dubawa, PTCIJ.

Cholera did NOT kill 938 people in 22 states as claimed by minister

Niyi Oyedeji
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Cholera did NOT kill 938 people in 22 states as claimed by minister

The minister of environment Mohammed Mahmood Abubakar on Monday, August 23, 2021 claimed that the cholera outbreak has so far led to the death of 938 lives in 22 states in Nigeria.

Abubakar disclosed this at a press briefing to sensitize the media and general public on the Cholera outbreak in the country.

The minister in the news reported here, here and here added that the country has so far recorded 33,661 suspected cases of cholera.

He stated that the data of suspected cholera cases and mortality rate in Nigeria was gotten from the situation report released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“Latest situation report from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) released on 10th August 2021 indicated a total number of 33,661 suspected cases including 938 deaths in 22 states and FCT (Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Enugu, Borno, Kastina, Adamawa and FCT) with an increasing number of new cases in, Zamfara, Bauchi, Kano, Gombe, Plateau, Niger, Zamfara and Abuja FCT,” he said.

THE CLAIM

From the report, the following claims were deduced:

  1. The total number of suspected cases of cholera in Nigeria as of August 10 was 33,661.
  2. Cholera killed 938 people in 22 states in Nigeria.

THE FINDINGS

CLAIM 1: The total number of suspected cases of cholera in Nigeria as of August 10 was 33,661.

The FactCheckHub findings revealed that the claim is MISLEADING.

In a bid to verify the claim, the FactCheckHub checked the NCDC situation report dashboard for the Cholera outbreak in Nigeria and realised that the official data is quite different from what was quoted by the minister.

From the data, the document released for Week 31: 2nd August – 8th August 2021 revealed that a total of 37,819 suspected cases were recorded in the country.

The number is quite different from what was quoted by the minister, thus making his claim MISLEADING.

Against the minister’s claim that the data was released on August 10, the NCDC stated boldly on the data that it was curated on August 13.

However, the NCDC has released an updated report which puts the countries total suspected cholera case at 47,603.

The FactCheckHub findings revealed that NCDC did not at any time on August  10 release any data that puts the country’s suspected cholera cases at 33,661, thereby making the minister’s claim MISLEADING.

 

CLAIM 2: Cholera killed 938 people in 22 states in Nigeria.

The FactCheckHub findings revealed that the claim is MISLEADING.

The figure gotten from the NCDC situation report dashboard for the Cholera outbreak in Nigeria contradicts what was quoted by the minister.

From the data, the document released for Week 31: 2nd August – 8th August, 2021 revealed that a total of 1,178 deaths were reported from 23 states and FCT.

The number is quite different from what was quoted by the minister, thereby making his claim MISLEADING.

However, the NCDC has released an updated report which stated that 1,768 deaths have been reported from 23 states and FCT.

VERDICTS

The two claims by the Nigerian minister on suspected cholera cases and mortality rate are MISLEADING, as data gotten from the NCDC differs.

NDA attack: Facts about viral video in circulation

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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NDA attack: Facts about viral video in circulation

A viral video, on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, emerged on social media shortly after local media reported news of the bandits’ attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Afaka, Kaduna State.

The one-minute 49-second video shows turbanned armed men on motorcycles, speaking a yet-to-be-identified language. However, the poster claimed that they were the bandits who attacked NDA, Kaduna.

In the video, the bandits appeared to have emerged from the forest as the entire vicinity was full of trees, with a narrow path. But, the footage has been circulated widely, especially on WhatsApp.

Officials confirm attack

Following the incident, the NDA and the Nigerian Defence Spokesperson confirmed the incidents of the bandits’ attack. They disclosed that the attackers were able to breach the perimeter fencing of the residential area of the NDA where two officers were killed and one other abducted.

“The security architecture of the Nigerian Defence Academy was compromised early this morning by unknown gunmen who gained access into the residential area within the Academy in Afaka. During the unfortunate incident, we lost two personnel and one was abducted,” a statement issued by Bashir Muh’d Jajira, the academy’s spokesperson said, stressing that the incident occurred early in the morning.

The Nigerian Defence spokesperson Benjamin Sawyer put the time of the incident at 02:15 am.

Sawyer’s timing aligned with the initial report by Daily Trust, where an officer narrated his experience to the medium, saying “the bandits took advantage of the time when most people had gone to bed…”

Usually, 02:15 am was not daybreak, thus it would be dark by then. Conversely, the circulating video was well lit implying the attack was carried out in the day.

Sawyer was asked to validate the viral video. But he said in his reaction “this video (the claim) is of the daytime and could have been anywhere,” he told The FactCheckHub when the footage was shared with him.

“The attack happened in the night at about 02:15 am,” he emphasised.

Video Analysis

Further analysis of the footage reveals that there were neither landmarks and structures nor notable buildings and infrastructure to establish the exact location.

A Google Reverse Image search of keyframes (images) taken from the footage using the InVid video verification platform shows that the images were not available online as of 18:00 GMT on Tuesday evening. Other reverse image tools including TinEye, Yandex and Bing deployed for the same purpose also yielded no result.

Using InVid for forensic analysis of the visual shows that the images are nowhere to be found online; thus, it is likely a fresh video that has not been uploaded to the internet yet.

A Google Earth image showing the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. CREDIT: Google.com

The FactCheckHub could not independently verify the source of the video as it has been forwarded severally in WhatsApp groups.

However, the use of the Google Earth tool to identify the NDA premises in comparison with the footage shows a contradicting live image as there are multiple structures within the NDA.

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