Claim: A Facebook user, Issiaka the Blogger, posted a video suggesting it shows the influx of foreign terrorists into Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading. The video is not recent, nor does it document foreign terrorists crossing national borders. AI detection tools confirmed that static images were synthetically animated into video format.
Full Text
On Aug. 28, 2026, a Facebook user, Issiaka the Blogger, shared a video clip with a caption suggesting it shows the influx of terrorists into Nigeria as he framed an inquiry about Nigeria’s border security.
The post (archived here) captioned, “Where are these terrorists coming from, and how did they cross the border to enter Nigeria? These are the questions that Nigerians need to ask themselves.”
The video contains three distinct segments.
A group of masked armed men shooting sporadically into the air, and later walking into a forest-like location; the second frame showed another group of armed men on top of moving white buses in desert terrain; and the third showed a group of armed men riding motorcycles on an untarred road in a forest-like environment.
As of Sept. 2, 2026, the post had generated more than 2,200 views, 90 likes, 42 shares, and 63 comments.
The post attracted reactions from users.
One Facebook user, Axe Ganto, wrote, “They enter Nigeria the same way Nigerians illegally enter other countries.”
Another user, Anthony Osuagwu, commented, “Immigration in the northern states should provide the answer.”
One Lazarus M. Tar said, “Does Nigeria have border control? These people did not follow borders; they follow our Bush.”
Making claims under the guise of an open-ended rhetorical question is a common technique used by misinformation actors to bypass direct assertion while instigating fear. Because border integrity and national security are sensitive topics, DUBAWA verified the clip.
Verification
DUBAWA analysed the video using the InVID verification plugin, segmenting the clip into keyframes and running reverse-image searches.
The search traced the source visuals to archival photographs repeatedly used by news outlets and social media accounts to illustrate domestic banditry:
On March 22, 2023, a still from the clip appeared in Peoples Gazette’s report titled “Bandits kill two soldiers, 32 others in Kaduna: official”, used as an illustrative file image of armed bandits.
The search also led to an image posted by Entertainment TV on Facebook with a claim alleging that bandits had demanded a N100 million ransom per victim following an abduction of Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Kwara State.
Likewise, on January 29, 2026, BusinessDay used matching visuals to illustrate an economic report analysing the SBM Intelligence–BDN security assessment on nationwide security flashpoints.
Several posts on X, Instagram and other platforms shared the images alongside varying narratives about security incidents and banditry attacks.
Also, the footage was shared by Instagram user @adesolayinka, showing armed men on motorcycles lined up in a straight line; their faces unclear. This raised questions about its authenticity and suggests it may be AI-generated.
DUBAWA observed visible inconsistencies in the video and the unnatural movements of the armed men, which could indicate that it was AI-generated.
To determine how the static photographs became motion footage, DUBAWA subjected the video to automated AI forensic detection tools:
HIVE Detect returned a verdict that the video was likely AI-generated, with a score of 42.8% under the tool’s test.
Screenshot of HIVE analysis
VigilAI classified the footage as ‘AI DEEPFAKE SPOOF DETECTED’ with a score of 98% deepfake chance.
Screenshot of VigilAI analysis
The forensic analysis indicates that several unrelated, pre-existing still photographs were converted into video motion using generative AI image-to-video tools.
While AI detectors are not infallible on their own, their findings align with the fact that the source media consists of old domestic file photos.
Conclusion
The claim that the video shows foreign terrorists crossing international borders into Nigeria is misleading. The video is an AI-generated animation made from old, recycled stock photos that have circulated online for years to illustrate local banditry and security reports.
This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.