A video showing some people scampering for safety has surfaced online with a claim that it shows an Islamic group’s invasion of a Nigerian community where residents were killed and used as sacrifice on the day of Eid-el Kabir.
An X account, @realmaloof posted the video with a caption that read:
“TERRIFYING: Christians are being hunted like animals in Nigeria.
An Islamist group invaded a Christian village and started shooting everyone in sight.
They are killing Christians on Eid and offering them as human sacrifices.
The media remains silent.”
READ THIS: How foreign-linked accounts amplify disinformation about gunmen attack in Nigeria’s Plateau state
The post has generated over 6.7 millions views, with over 103,000 likes, more than 45,000 reposts, over 13,000 bookmarks and over 4,000 comments as of June 8, 2025.
The video also surfaced here with a similar caption.
CLAIM
Video shows Christians attacked by an Islamist group on Sallah Day in Nigeria.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
The FactCheckHub subjected the keyframes in the video to a Google Reverse Image Search, and the results show that the incident occurred before the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in Nigeria.
The earliest version of the video was traced to Wednesday, June 4, 2025, while Eid-el-Kabir (Sallah) was celebrated in Nigeria on Friday, June 6, 2025.
Further findings reveal that the video was originally shared on Facebook by the Irigwe Youth Movement. The Irigwe are an indigenous ethnic group located in the Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
According to the group, the distressing video was recorded on June 4, 2025, in Kwall District of Bassa LGA, following the killing of three residents allegedly by armed herders a day earlier (June 3).
Punch reported that the deceased were identified as Sunday Ishaya (37), Joshua Mishi (51), and Range Kpeh (32).
Kwall, situated about an hour’s drive from Jos, the Plateau State capital, is home to the Nigerian College of Accountancy, managed by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.
The community has been plagued by a wave of violent incidents this year. Many residents have been killed in separate attacks, some while working on their farms, others ambushed on roads.
For instance, in April 2025, HumAngle reported that gunmen stormed the local government area, killing 40 people in a single attack. In March, three people were ambushed and killed in the Local Government.
In Wednesday’s protest by Irigwe youths that followed Tuesday’s killing by armed herders, the community alleged that Nigerian military personnel opened fire on unarmed demonstrators, who had gathered to express their grief and frustration over ongoing violence, despite military presence in the area.
While groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) —classified as Islamist groups — have been blamed for numerous attacks in Nigeria, the Kwall community attributes the violence in their area to armed herders, who they accuse of attempting to displace indigenous populations to seize fertile farmland.
Plateau State, home to nearly 40 ethnic groups, has long been a flashpoint for violent conflict. Clashes, often labelled as ethno-religious, particularly between Muslim Fulani herders and Christian farming communities, have deeper roots in climate change, land scarcity, and resource competition, according to analysts.
The Fulani, traditionally nomadic pastoralists from northern Nigeria, have increasingly migrated southward in search of better grazing land. Some have settled permanently in host communities, but growing urbanisation and pastoral land shortages have driven others to encroach on farmlands, including national parks and protected forests.
This encroachment leads to crop destruction, fueling tensions and retaliatory violence. Farmers often respond by attacking herders and their livestock, creating a cycle of violence that has become common in Plateau and other North Central states in the country.
As Human Rights Watch noted, one of the major challenges in addressing the violence in Plateau State is the difficulty in identifying perpetrators. Unlike the bandit groups in the Northwest or Boko Haram in the Northeast, no group has consistently claimed responsibility for the killings in the state.
ALSO READ: Photo of yam market set ablaze in Plateau is MISLEADING!
This lack of a major terrorist group that can be held responsible has opened the door to speculation, false narratives, and conspiracy theories about the identities of the attackers.
Misinformation, often driven by ethno-religious sentiments, continues to obscure the facts and fuel tensions. This has contributed significantly to the escalation and persistence of violence in Plateau State over the years.
Previously, The FactCheckHub reported how foreign-linked actors helped amplify false claims regarding the Christmas Eve 2023 attacks, further complicating the security situation and deepening public mistrust in Africa’s most populous nation.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows an Islamist group killing Christians on Eid-el-Kabir is MISLEADING. The incident occurred on June 4, 2025 — two days before the Sallah celebration. It was linked to a protest in Kwall, Plateau State, following the killing of three residents allegedly by armed herders a day earlier (June 3).
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.
