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Claim: WhatsApp and Facebook users claim Donald Trump has ordered the Nigerian Government to release Nnamdi Kanu.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s analysis reveals that the video is AI-generated and has misleading content.
Full Text
A WhatsApp-forwarded video has a claim that the United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump has ordered the Nigerian Government to release Nnamdi Kanu. The 2-minute, 39-second video showed Mr Trump saying,
“Today, I am calling on the Nigerian government to immediately release Mr Nnamdi Kanu, who has been detained under circumstances that raise questions of fairness, human rights, and basic justice. Nnamdi Kanu’s detention has gone on far too long, and it’s time for the Nigerian government to respect the principles of freedom and the rule of law.”
Mr Trump, who said he has watched the Nnamdi Kanu situation closely, said it has stirred deep pain, anger, and frustration among many Nigerians who feel that their rights and voices are being suppressed.
He also gave an ultimatum for Mr Kanu’s release, after which he threatened that all financial and humanitarian aid to Nigeria would cease.
“Now, let me be very clear. If Mr Kanu is not released by November 31st, 2024, my administration will begin the process of withdrawing the medical, financial, and humanitarian aid that we provide to Nigeria. The United States stands for justice and democracy, and we expect our allies to uphold these same values.
“In addition, if Nigeria does not take this step, I will meet with other world leaders to discuss further actions, including sanctions against Nigeria. The world must not stand idle while the rights of individuals are trampled. This is not a message of hostility. It’s a message of hope, fairness, and accountability. We want to see Nigeria flourish as a nation, and I believe that respecting justice and human rights is key to a prosperous future for all Nigerians. Thank you, and God bless America.”
The video has also been widely shared on Facebook, appearing on pages like Biafra Iconic Warriors, where it has garnered over 46,000 views and 382 comments as of Nov. 19, 2024. Additionally, Facebook user Hichief Sunny Odogwu reposted the video with his reaction, captioning it: “Good News: Donald Trump Ordered the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before 31st November. Congratulations to all #Biafrans.”
Given the wide engagement the video has received online, DUBAWA conducted a fact-check to verify its authenticity.
Verification
The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested on June 27, 2021, in Kenya and subsequently extradited to Nigeria, faces charges of terrorism, treasonable felony and inciting violence through his Radio Biafra, among others. According to Punch Newspapers, Kanu has spent no fewer than 1,133 days in the Department of State Services (DSS) custody.
Over time, individuals and organisations have called for Mr Kanu’s release. The video circulating online allegedly shows Mr Trump joining these calls.
However, DUBAWA identified disturbing content in the video, including discrepancies between Donald Trump’s speech and his lip movements and the placement of images of President Tinubu and Nnamdi Kanu. DUBAWA used the InVID WeVerify tool to extract keyframes from the video. A Google reverse image search of these frames traced the footage to Trump’s victory speech at his campaign watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In the original speech, Mr Trump spoke about his historic electoral mandate and his plans to “heal” America and fix the borders. At no point did he mention Nigeria or Nnamdi Kanu.
In the doctored video, Mr Trump was made to say, “If Mr Kanu is not released by November 31st, 2024, my administration will begin the process of withdrawing medical, financial, and humanitarian aid to Nigeria.”
After watching both videos, several elements indicate that the clip is a deepfake, for example, the date error. November has only 30 days, not 31 days.
Also, despite winning the recent presidential election, Mr. Trump still needs to be in office. His presidency begins on Jan. 20, 2025.
We observed unnatural mouth movements, and Trump’s words were garbled. The audio also fades at 1:23 seconds, leaving the rest of the video inaudible.
We also tried using AI tools like Deepware to check if it was created or manipulated with AI, but none yielded useful results.
Conclusion
These discrepancies suggest the video was digitally altered using readily available deepfake tools.
