PRNigeria Factcheck Debunks Video Claims of Bandits Dying Mysteriously in Nupe Community

A viral video claiming that bandits mysteriously died after abducting locals in a Nupe-speaking community in Kwara State has been found to be false and misleading.

The widely circulated clip on WhatsApp depicts several dead men with guns slung across their bodies, accompanied by a narration in the Nupe language. According to the message shared with the video, the men were kidnappers who took hostages in Lafiagi, Kwara State, and began dying inexplicably within 24 hours.

The narrator in the video alleges that the victims were kidnapped and taken into the forest, but the abductors started dying mysteriously by morning. He further claimed that the hostages were scattered in the forest and urged viewers to give thanks as “God has answered their prayers.”

However, a fact-check by PRNigeria has revealed that the footage is misattributed. Forensic analysis of the video, including frame extraction and reverse image searches, confirmed that the images were not from Kwara State but from Borno State.

The visuals are actually from a military operation in Manawaji, Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State, where Nigerian troops, in collaboration with the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and Hybrid Forces (HF), neutralized eight Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents. The operation, part of ongoing counter-terrorism efforts under Operation Hadin Kai, also led to the recovery of weapons and ammunition.

Further keyword searches and cross-referencing with credible news reports confirmed that the images matched official documentation of the Borno operation.

Conclusion: The video falsely links the deaths of terrorists in Borno State to an alleged kidnapping incident in Kwara State. There is no evidence that bandits died mysteriously in any Nupe-speaking community as claimed.

Verdict: False. The video is misleading and has no connection to Kwara State or any mysterious deaths of bandits following an abduction.