Ibrahim Traore. Image source: BBC
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Claim: A Facebook user posted a video showing Ibrahim Traore issuing a “final warning” to Bola Tinubu over alleged United States espionage activities in Northern Nigeria.
Verdict: False. The video is AI-generated and contains no evidence of authentic communication from Ibrahim Traoré.
Full Text
Ibrahin Traore and Burkina Faso have been in conversations targeting the spread of false Information, including some that involve Nigeria.
DUBAWA has consistently debunked these narratives here, here, here, here, and here.
Recently, a Facebook user posted a video (archived here) showing how Traoré, the leader of Burkina Faso, issued a strong warning to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
The 10-minute 55-second video shows Traore delivering what is described as a “final warning” to the Nigerian government. In the clip, he accuses the United States of spying on the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which includes Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
He said that US troops stationed in northern Nigeria near the Niger Republic border monitor the AES’s defence systems, track troop movements, and intercept communications. He also warned that if Nigeria continues to support these alleged operations, the Sahel states will respond.
“This is the final warning. If the government of Nigeria continues to aid foreigners in spying on the Alliance of Sahel states, if you do not immediately shut down this espionage operation running from your northern borders, the Sahel will rise against you,” he said.
As of April 10, 2026, the post had 259 likes, 63 comments, and 134 shares.
DUBAWA reviewed the comments on the Facebook post to understand how users responded to the claim.
One user, @Khalifa Ola, wrote that the message was accurate and timely. Another commenter, @Bolaji Sunday, described the message as clear and praised what he saw as courage, while also expressing support for Africa and Nigeria.
Similarly, @Kingspel Uche stated that he did not doubt the claim, arguing that the presence of the United States had not improved security challenges but instead coincided with an increase in insecurity.
Due to the sensitive nature of the claim and the geopolitical implications for Nigeria and Burkina Faso, DUBAWA decided to examine its authenticity.
Verification
DUBAWA observed that the audio did not reflect natural human speech patterns. The tone and visuals appeared flat and inconsistent, suggesting the video may have been artificially generated.
Seeing this possibility, DUBAWA analysed the audio using Hiya Deepfake Detector, an AI detection tool. The result produced a probability score of 56 out of 100. The tool also indicated that the model was not fully certain of the voice’s authenticity.
Result from Hiya Deepfake Detector.
DUBAWA also analysed the video using Hive AI, a synthetic media detection tool. The result showed a 99.9 per cent probability that the content was artificially generated, indicating a high likelihood of AI manipulation.
DUBAWA conducted a second review of the video using Deepware.ai. The tool identified the content as a deepfake. It returned 92% probability from the Deepware detector, an 80% score from the Seferbekov model, and 83% score from the ensemble model. The combined results indicated a strong likelihood that the video was synthetically generated.
Beyond establishing that the video was fabricated, DUBAWA also found that the claims within it were false. For instance, the voice in the video stated that US troops were stationed near the Niger Republic border. However, available records show that the deployment took place in Bauchi State.
Bauchi lies in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria and shares borders with Jigawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba, Plateau, Kaduna, and Kano States.
Finally, DUBAWA searched for reports and other publicly available information from credible sources confirming any instance in which Ibrahim Traoré issued a warning to Tinubu, but found none.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings confirm that the video that claims to show Ibrahim Traoré issuing a warning to Bola Tinubu is not authentic. The claim is therefore false.
