A VIRAL post shared on social media, claims to show a Christian family in Nigeria being forced at gunpoint to recite the Shahada and convert to Islam.
The post was accompanied by a video showing a man holding a baby, a woman wearing a hijab, while an armed man pointed a rifle at the man’s head.
The post was shared by a verified X user @EYakoby on 17 October 2026, with the caption:
“This is a Christian family in Nigeria that is being forced to say the Shahada and convert to Islam at gunpoint. How is there zero attention on what’s happening daily in Nigeria?”
As of 21 October 2026, the post has generated over 330,000 views, 19,000 likes and more than 8,000 likes.
The claim with the same narrative also surfaced here.
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CLAIM
Viral post claims a video shows a Christian family in Nigeria being forced to recite the Shahada and convert to Islam at gunpoint.
FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
On 6 October, Ahmed Abubakar Zakka, his wife and their infant daughter were abducted from their residence in Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
A video showing the family in the custody of the abductors went viral on social media days after the incident, sparking widespread outrage across the country.
The post was published on 17 October, two days after the abducted family had already been freed. Daily Trust, Sahara Reporters and others confirmed in their reports that the family regained freedom from captivity on October 15, 2026, two days before the post was made.
The FactCheckHub notes that the victims depicted in the video are Muslims, not Christians. The individuals featured in the footage are Ahmed Abubakar Zakka, his wife Nafisat, and their infant daughter Fatima, these are names associated with the Islamic religion. Furthermore, the wife is consistently seen clad in a hijab both during captivity and following their release, a distinct cultural and religious identifier associated with Muslim women.
The FactCheckHub further contacted the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Munir Hassan, who confirmed the identity of the individuals as Muslims, not Christians.
The audio examination of the clip done by The FactCheckHub reveals that the victims were not reciting the Shahada or participating in a religious conversion activity. Instead, the family was pleading with the public to assist in raising ransom demanded by their abductors.
READ ALSO: 2023 video falsely shared as recent bandit attack in Niger State
This means that the motive behind the abduction was financial extortion rather than religious conversion. The demand for a ransom contradicts the narrative that the abductors were attempting to forcibly convert the family.
VERDICT
The claim that the viral video shows a Christian family in Nigeria being forced to say the Shahada and convert to Islam at gunpoint is FALSE. Findings show that the family involved are Muslims who were pleading for ransom payment to secure their freedom from kidnappers in Kaduna State, and they had already been released prior to the publication of the post.
Seasoned writer and literary curator, Zainab Abdulrasaq is a factchecker for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached on IG @blackbookishgirl or zabdulrasaq@icirnigeria.org
