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For more than two decades, Nigeria has become a hotbed of a complex security crisis. From the bandit violence and spiking abductions troubling the Northern regions of the nation, the situation has been worsened by a secessionist struggle in its Eastern parts. At the same time, the other zones remain under siege of rising criminal gangs.
At least N2.57 billion was paid to kidnappers by locals between July 2024 and June 2025, while abductors demanded N48 billion in the same period, according to a new SBM Intelligence study on the nation’s kidnap-for-ransom economy.
In this listicle, DUBAWA highlights false information on security and conflict issues in Nigeria that we verified in 2025. This article reveals how digital technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), is being utilised to enhance security.
- Video of a soldier inviting Wike to Sambisa forest
Following a viral altercation between the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, and a naval officer over a parcel of land in November 2025, Facebook users shared a clip showing the military officer calling Wike to Sambisa Forest.
DUBAWA verified this by employing the forking technique on Google but found no supporting information. Next, we subjected the footage to the Attestiv Deepfake detector, a digital detection tool, which yielded a 46% suspicion rating, indicating that it was likely generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Read more about this fact-check here.
- Footage of an American soldier proclaiming military takeover in Nigeria
Another claim linked to insecurity in 2025 is the claim of a United States (US) military officer announcing that the United States military will “take over” the Nigerian army and help end terrorism.
After an analysis of the footage conveying the claim with a detecting tool IsFake.AI, results suggest that the footage used to portray the claim has been manipulated.
We also conducted a keyword search for any official announcement or verified report indicating the presence of US soldiers in Nigeria, but found none.
Read the full story here.
- Soldiers beat up a young man in a retaliatory move
Following a judgment by a Nigerian court to sentence Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), to life imprisonment, Facebook users uploaded a video purportedly showing him inside a prison yard being served food.
DUBAWA conducted a close frame-by-frame analysis of the video and noticed several irregularities that strongly suggest it is fake. For instance, a visible mark on the left side of Mr Kanu’s face in his public photos and videos is missing from the footage in question.
Then we used multiple verification tools to trace its origin and discovered that the claim was AI-generated.
Click here for the whole story.
- Northerners take revenge on the Igbo community
Drawing on the strained relationships between the ethnic tribes in Nigeria, a Facebook user alleged that the Hausas retaliated with attacks against the Igbo community in the North following the killing of some Northern travellers in March 2025.
Our findings, however, reveal that the photos used to depict the assertion were created with the aid of AI.
Although we found one of the photos online after a Google Reverse Image search, it was from a tanker explosion in Lagos State and was unrelated to the claim.
Read more here.
- Nigeria sent troops to Israel on peacekeeping efforts
With the declaration of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to kick off Operation Rising Lion, a long-planned military offensive against Iran in June 2025, Facebook users claimed Nigeria sent troops for a joint peacekeeping mission in Israel.
As seen here, DUBAWA ran the footage used to depict the assertion on Deepware AI and obtained results suggesting 99% AI-generated content. Then we checked the social media accounts of the Presidency and the Ministry of Defence, which did not mention the purported deployment.
