AI-generated video fuels claim bandits have surrounded Edo State 

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Rejoice Taddy

Claim: A Facebook user shared a video claiming that bandits are in Benin, Edo State, and have surrounded the state. 

Verdict: False. The video of the alleged bandit is AI-generated, while the second footage predates the claim and has no connection to the alleged invasion of Edo State. 

Full Text

Amidst the heightened insecurity in Nigeria, a Facebook user claimed in a video (archived here) that bandits are now in Benin, daring the Federal Government (FG) to stop them. 

He also alleged that they had surrounded the Edo, urging residents to remain on high alert.

The post’s caption reads, “ Edo state has been surrounded.”

As the video began, it showed a man in a turban whom the user presented as a bandit. The man appeared in a selfie video saying, “If the federal government thinks they have power, they should come to Benin. We are going to kill anybody who tries to stop us. Our mission must be accomplished here.”

About 10 seconds later, the user who shared the post appeared on the screen and spoke in a high-pitched tone. He claimed that Nigerians should be on alert because they had been surrounded.

While he spoke, an overlay video appeared in the bottom-left corner of the screen, showing armed men around armoured tanks.

“The executive governor of Edo State, we are in your hands. What will you do about these people, and when will you return the guns you collected from the vigilantes in Edo?” he asked.

Throughout the video, he reiterated his call on the Edo State government to take action to stop the alleged invasion of bandits in the state.

As of June 4, 2026, the video had garnered over 53,000 likes, 2,400 comments, 24,000 shares, and more than 2 million views.

DUBAWA checked the comments to understand what users who engaged with the post thought.

Some users expressed concern about the claim and questioned its plausibility.

“Please, how did they get to Edo State?” @Victoria Omeche Onoja asked.

@Haruna Yahaya made  his observation, “This does not sound like a Fulani man’s voice.” 

“Who says it is a lie? Are they not in Benin? Keep playing,” @Debie Tuke wrote.

We found that the claim was also shared by other users here, here, here, here and here.

In view of growing security concerns, the claim’s potential to cause panic, and the high engagement on Facebook, DUBAWA found it necessary to verify.

Verification

DUBAWA broke the video into keyframes using InVID and subjected the clearest frame showing the alleged bandit to a reverse image search. 

The search led to a report by Leadership News, which showed that the same video had been used to claim that bandits were planning to launch an attack on some higher institutions in Ekiti State. In the report, the Ekiti State Police Command debunked the claim and stated that the video was AI-generated.

The Sun Nigeria and Newsanchorng also published similar reports.

While this provided some answers, we still needed to check if the video, as related to the context of the claim at hand, is also AI-related.

DUBAWA then subjected the video to Hive.ai to analyse it. Hive gave the video a 95.6% probability that the video is AI-generated.

To double-check, we  submitted the video to Deepware.ai, another AI detection tool,

and it flagged the content as suspicious.

Result from Deepware.ai.

DUBAWA conducted an Error Level Analysis (ELA) with a screenshot from the video, and it returned with varying patches on the image. This is usually an indication that the image has been altered from its original form.

We proceeded to check the origin of the second video attached to the Facebook post. The search led to a Ripples Nigeria report published on June 17, 2025. The report contained a screenshot from the video and stated that it circulated on social media as footage allegedly showing security agents mingling with armed bandits after a meeting in Katsina State. 

The report also explained that the footage relates to a peace or reconciliation engagement in Katsina State involving security personnel, community leaders, and armed groups, within non-kinetic efforts to address insecurity in the region. 

The Guardian, Business Day, and News Express Report also published the same news article in June 2025.

We found no mention of Edo in the report, nor did we identify any credible reports linking the footage to the state.

Conclusion

While insecurity remains a major concern in Nigeria, DUBAWA found no evidence that the video shows bandits in Benin or supports the claim that Edo State is under siege. The footage of the alleged bandit is AI-generated, and the accompanying video appeared out of context. The claim is false.