Video of ‘Boko Haram terrorists getting arms supply by air’ resurfaces online

The post has since gained a traction of over 500,000 views, more than 4,400 likes and 3,900 reposts as of July 5, 2024.

Another  X user, @Africa_Archives, also shared the same video on June 29, 2024 with a different caption that read:

The FactCheckHub had previously debunked a misleading claim made by @Africa_Archives on the X platform (formerly Twitter) about a Namibian cultural practice.

Video shows Boko Haram terrorists getting arms and ammunitions supply by air.

Results from a keyword search on Google.com using the words “Helicopter ammunitions arms Boko Haram” display multiple media reports earlier published to debunk the claim, dating back to 2014.

This shows that this is not the first time the claim would be circulating online.

Further checks led our fact-checker to a statement by African Parks debunking the claim when it also resurfaced in 2021.

African Parks  is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the  responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in some African countries in partnership with governments and local communities.

The statement noted that the narrative was false and contrary to the claim, the helicopter was conducting a supply mission to Chinko, a town in Central African Republic.

The statement read:

A video containing footage of an African Parks helicopter in Chinko, Central African Republic, is being circulated in connection with false information on social media, misrepresenting the location, the identities of the people and the activities appearing in the footage.

African Parks can confirm that this video shows its helicopter conducting a routine resupply mission on December 4th 2021 in Chinko, Central African Republic, which it manages in partnership with the CAR Government. During this mission, the helicopter was transporting Chinko’s transhumance sensitization teams and their supplies within the park, emplacing a team and their supplies in the field while recovering another team from the field. These teams conduct extended sensitization missions on the ground to engage with cattle herders moving through the region seasonally, where they initiate dialogue around Chinko’s location to encourage them to utilize the correct established routes around the park’s perimeter. These sensitization teams are unarmed, clearly marked, and recruited out of the local community in order to provide culturally-sensitive and peaceful engagement with cattle herders to ensure the long-term sustainability of the landscape.

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Also, other fact-checking and media organisations such as AFP Fact-Check, HumAngle and France24’s The Observers had also debunked the claim.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that the video shows Boko Haram terrorists getting arms and ammunitions supply is MISLEADING; the video shows an African Parks helicopter conducting a routine resupply mission in the Central African Republic (CAR).