A video showing some wounded men being forced to enter the back of a Hilux vehicle has surfaced online with a claim that it shows the kidnappers of Ekiti pupils arrested by Amotekun operatives.
The video is circulating following the rumoured arrest of the suspected kidnappers who abducted the pupils and three teachers of Apostolic Montessori School in Ekiti State on January 29. Police however, debunked the rumoured arrest.
READ: How misinformation almost marred 2022 Ekiti governorship election
An X user, @RashwalRashwal posted the video with a caption thus:
“Ekiti children kidnappers captured by Amotekun and local hunters using drones to find and locate them. Combination of intelligence, technology and raw courage. Imagine what local police can achieve!”
The post has generated over 1,500 reposts and more than 4,000 likes as of February 4, 2024.
Another X user, @RodemiF posted the same video with another caption that read:
“Ekiti children kidnappers captured by Amotekun and local hunters using drones to find and locate them. Combination of intelligence, technology and raw courage. Imagine what local police can achieve!”
The post has generated over 800 reposts and more than 1,000 likes as of February 4, 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows kidnappers of Ekiti pupils arrested by Amotekun.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
The ICIR reported that the Ekiti State Government confirmed the abduction of the pupils, teachers and the bus driver on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.
When the FactCheckHub subjected keyframes from the video to a Google Reverse Image search, the result shows that it has been online since January 17, 2024 and it depicts suspected armed robbers arrested in Osun state.
A frame in the video was captured in these reports by Voice Air Media and Eagle Eyes News.
According to the media reports, the suspects were arrested by Osun Police Anti-Cultism units and some hunters in the state while attempting to carry out armed robbery attacks on Dangote Integrated Steel Rolling Mills in Osogbo, Osun state.
They were identified as Adepoju Abdulateef (18), Rasheed Hammed (20), Liadi Afeez (20), Wasiu Sodiq (21), and Rabiu Lekan (28). The incident was also reported by TheCable and Vanguard newspapers.
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Meanwhile, in a latest development on Sunday, February 4, 2024, the Ekiti state government has confirmed the release of the school pupils and teachers. However, there was no report indicating the arrest of the kidnappers as of the time of filing this fact-check.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows kidnappers of Ekiti pupils arrested by Amotekun is MISLEADING; findings show that the video has been online since about two weeks before the abduction.
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 [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
