Claim: A Facebook user shared an aerial image of an urban area and a major highway, and claimed it was taken in Sierra Leone.
Verdict: False. AI-image detection tools assessed the image as likely to be AI-generated. A comparison with an aerial photograph of the actual Hillside Bypass area also reveals significant differences in structure and surroundings.
Full Text
A Facebook user, BORN 2 BLOG, shared an aerial image (archived here) showing the skyline of a densely populated urban area along a coastline, and claimed it is located somewhere in Sierra Leone.
The Facebook user further wrote, “This is Sierra Leone. Someone will mistakenly say it is South Africa. Only a True Sierra Leonean will know this location.”
As of Sept. 17, 2026, the post had attracted over 100 likes, 11 comments, and two reshares.
Some users who commented on the photo appeared to believe that it was genuine.
One of them wrote, “Beautiful.”
Another commented, “Pure AI,” to which another user replied, “You don’t even know what AI is. I think you’ve never gone to Freetown.”
Because it could mislead, DUBAWA investigated the photo.
Verification
DUBAWA first ran the image through two AI image-detection tools—AI Image Detector and Image Detector. Both tools returned a 97% probability that the image was AI-generated. Also, AI Image Detector labelled the image as “fake” with high confidence.
Screenshots of the AI image analysis of the claimant’s photo.
DUBAWA then compared the image in the claim with an aerial photograph published on Pexels showing the actual Hillside Bypass area of Freetown. The differences are significant.
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Screenshots of the AI image shared by the claimant and the actual aerial view of Freetown Hillside from Pexels Free Stock Photo.
In the image posted by Born 2 Blog, the highway appears to pass through a relatively low and broadly spread urban landscape. The surrounding buildings also appear unusually uniform and densely arranged, while the hillside behind the road does not correspond closely with the physical characteristics of the Hillside Bypass corridor.
The genuine aerial view, by contrast, shows the road surrounded by the distinctive steep terrain of the Hillside and Mount Aureol communities. The residential settlements rise visibly up the hills, while the road follows the terrain rather than running through a relatively flat urban landscape. The Hillside Bypass runs along the steep hillside below Fourah Bay College, with densely populated communities rising around the road.
This is consistent with independent documentation of the Hillside Bypass. The OPEC Fund, which financed the Hillside Bypass Road project, describes it as a 3.7-kilometre, four-lane east-west bypass in Freetown.
This geographical description is important because it provides an independently documented feature against which the social media image can be compared. The actual aerial photograph used for comparison shows the pronounced hillside settlement around the road, whereas the circulated image presents a substantially different landscape.
DUBAWA also reviewed YouTube video footage, which provides another real-life view of the Hillside Bypass and its surrounding landscape. The road, hillside settlements, and general physical environment match the actual aerial photograph much more closely than the image circulated by BORN 2 BLOG.
DUBAWA also noticed a watermark on the image: “Gwen J. Koroma’s viewpoint.” When we looked up the name on Facebook, we found that the page contains Aerial views of cities, some modified by AI-tools, to make them look more pleasant.
Conclusion
The Facebook post is false. The image shows features consistent with AI generation. Although the image resembles an aerial view of Freetown, it does not depict the actual view of Sierra Leone’s Hillside Bypass.