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Video from Ethiopia falsely used to depict armed bandits in Nigeria

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
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screenshot of the viral post

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A video circulating on social media claims to show armed bandits in Nigeria preparing for a fresh attack.

The footage shows a large group of armed men running in circles, chanting in an unfamiliar language while carrying weapons.

An X user, @NemeremNjoku, shared the video on May 22, 2026, with the caption: “This is Nigeria, yes you should be worried.”

As of May 22, the post had generated over 1,000 engagements, including reposts and likes, with many users expressing concern over the alleged threat.

CLAIM

Video shows armed bandits in Nigeria preparing for an attack.

screenshot of the viral post

FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.

The video appears to be resurfacing amid heightened public anxiety over worsening insecurity in parts of Nigeria, including the recent abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo and Borno, among other insecurity incidents that have renewed public fears about safety.

However, checks by The FactCheckHub show that the footage is not from Nigeria.

READ ALSO : No, video does not show bandits attack on Abuja community

The same video had circulated months earlier. On November 28, 2025, a Nigerian senator, Ned Nwoko, shared the footage on his verified Instagram account while advocating for citizens to be legally armed for self-defence. Even though the post provided no verified evidence that the footage was from Nigeria, the video has been used repeatedly by social media users to depict terrorists operating in Nigeria.

In a version of the video shared by a Facebook account, Politics Nigeria in November 2025, a Facebook account, Bill Rogan, pointed out that the video shows “Oromonians in Ethiopia who have been fighting for independence since 1973 as the original natives of the land!”

The claim had also been fact-checked by Dubawa in November 2025, and it was traced to Ethiopia, not Nigeria.

The organisation contacted Rehobot Ayalew, an Ethiopian fact-checker, who confirmed that the individuals in the footage were speaking Afaan Oromo, one of the major languages widely spoken in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

According to her, the attire worn by the men, particularly the red and green colours, also aligns with symbols associated with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an Ethiopian political movement with armed factions.

This confirms that the footage has no connection to Nigeria and is being falsely recirculated in a misleading context.

VERDICT

The claim that the video shows armed bandits in Nigeria preparing for an attack is FALSE. The footage is traced to Ethiopia, where it shows individuals linked to the Oromo Liberation Front, not bandits in Nigeria.

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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.

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