A video showing Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, exchanging pleasantries with some tribal Fulani men has resurfaced online with a claim that it shows the vice president during a visit to some terrorists.
An X user, @Nwaadaz, posted the claim with a caption that read:
“Watch the video of Kashim Shettima hanging out with Fulani terrorists. More reason why Terrorists are attacking Christian States in the North. RIP Nigeria.”
A text inscription on the video itself read: Nigerian vice president elect caught visits bandits.
The post has generated over 26,000 views, more than 1,000 reposts and over 900 likes as of January 6, 2024.
Another X user, @official_south, also posted the same video which is getting engagement too.
CLAIM
Video shows Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, visiting terrorists.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
FactCheckHub unraveled the source of the video using keywords search and the result shows that the video has been online since 2017 and largely taken out of context.
The video was posted by Shettima on his Facebook account in June 27, 2017 when he was the governor of Borno State.
Shettima said the video shows when he went to inspect Lamisula Primary School in Maiduguri, Borno state where they were facilitating the construction of classrooms.
His post read, “Yesterday, I paid inspection visit to Lamisula Primary School where we are presently constructing new classrooms and fortunate enough, I met these well dressed Fulani men.
“Although I am impressed by their love for fashion but I’m not yet convinced that they are due for freedom until they abstain from carrying mirror in their pockets.
“The Fulanis should not forget that the Kanuris are still their masters and will continue to be their masters forever.”
This is not the first time the vice-president has been falsely linked to terrorists. A viral photo falsely depicting him dining with bandits had earlier gone viral, but findings revealed that it captured a moment when he visited nomadic Fulani to encourage them to enrol their children in the state government’s free educational programme during his tenure as Governor of Borno State.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, visiting terrorists is MISLEADING; findings show that the video has been online since 2017 and depicted when Shettima visited a primary school in Maiduguri.
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.
