On January 29, Facebook user Olutoyoso Omotoso posted a video and captioned it as originating from the USA Centre for Security Studies. This is false.
While the video is genuine, the author had angled the caption in a way that presented the video as a US government scorecard of Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking re-election and finished it off with a CTA. She wrote:
“The USA Centre For Security Studies declares that Nigeria under Buhari is in an SOS ? situation, and recommends immediate intervention before it explodes. Watch and share video pls. Kick out Buhari/Osinbajo.”
As at Wednesday, February 6, 2:13 pm WAT, the video had been viewed 1,300 times and shared by 166 Facebook accounts.
These are our findings:
- That there is no USA Centre for Security Studies
- That the video first appeared on ‘SecureFreedom’ Youtube page on December 20, 2018, and captioned “Frank Gaffney urges Trump administration to appoint a U.S. Special Envoy to Nigeria/Lake Chad”
- That the video was recorded a day earlier at a press conference held in Washington by ‘Save The Persecuted Christians’, coalition to pressure the US Government to intervene in the plight of Christians in Northern Nigeria/Lake Chad by appointing an envoy.
- That Frank Gaffney, the man who appears in the video, is the Founder and President of Centre for Security Policy, a US-based not-for-profit. He is also Founder of Save The Persecuted Christians and does not speak for the US government.
CCN then reached out to the Facebook account seeking to clarify the author’s intention in using that caption, her response was: “It was sent to me like that. Pls what’s the right caption so I can edit? Thanks.” We have now provided the author with a link to the original video in hope that the misinformation is corrected.
