{"id":26476,"date":"2025-12-07T11:57:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T10:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=26476"},"modified":"2025-12-07T11:57:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T10:57:44","slug":"round-up-banditry-claims-topped-dubawas-verification-last-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/round-up-banditry-claims-topped-dubawas-verification-last-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Round-up: Banditry claims topped DUBAWA\u2019s verification last week\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Banditry and other forms of insecurity have been the subject of discussion and the information ecosystem for months. This week is no exception, according to claims fact-checked by DUBAWA in this round-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Old image of abducted school student with bandits recirculated<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Amidst a surge of banditry attack news in Nigeria, an X user claimed a picture showed students recently abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) in Kebbi State in November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    DUBAWA\u2019s findings, however, revealed the image dates back to 2021, originally linked to an earlier abduction at Federal Government College, Birin Yauri, Kebbi State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We confirmed that the image is unrelated to the recent incident and is misleading. Our findings are detailed in the full report, available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Videos of Nnamdi Kanu in prison, AI-generated<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Following the life imprisonment of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, a video allegedly showing him in prison was widely shared on Facebook. The claim depicted him receiving food in a correctional facility in Sokoto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      DUBAWA conducted a verification and confirmed that 78\u201399 per cent of the videos\u2019 visuals and audio were artificially generated, confirming that the clips were deepfakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Find more information in the full report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Gumi urged FG to include bandits\u2019 welfare in Nigeria\u2019s national budget<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        A Facebook video purportedly showed controversial cleric Ahmad Gumi asking the Nigerian Federal Government to negotiate with bandits and allocate funds for their welfare in the national budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        However, DUBAWA\u2019s analyses<\/a> revealed that the video was entirely AI-generated. No credible media reports support the claim, and Gumi has not made any such statements. The claim is therefore false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. No connection between fluoride and premature grey hairs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          An Instagram user claimed that fluoride in toothpaste is responsible for premature grey hair in men’s beards. The claim suggested that toothpaste foam dripping onto the chin affects hair follicles. However, global health authorities such as the WHO, CDC, and the American Dental Association state there is no evidence to support such a claim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          While excessive fluoride is linked to conditions like dental and skeletal fluorosis, no medical or regulatory bodies list hair greying as a potential side effect; instead, these organisations continue to endorse fluoride in toothpaste as a safe and effective tool for reducing tooth decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Medical and scientific experts further clarified that hair greying is a natural biological process unrelated to chemical exposure from dental products. Greying is primarily driven by genetics, ageing, stress, and nutritional deficiencies that cause a decline in melanin production. The full report is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Banditry and other forms of insecurity have been the subject of discussion and the information ecosystem for months. This week is no exception, according to claims fact-checked by DUBAWA in this round-up. Amidst a surge of banditry attack news in Nigeria, an X user claimed a picture showed students recently abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) in Kebbi State in November.  DUBAWA\u2019s findings, however, revealed the image dates back to 2021, originally linked to an earlier abduction at Federal Government College, Birin Yauri, Kebbi State.  We confirmed that the image is unrelated to the recent incident and is misleading. Our findings are detailed in the full report, available here. Following the life imprisonment of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, a video allegedly showing him in prison was widely shared on Facebook. The claim depicted him receiving food in a correctional facility in Sokoto.  DUBAWA conducted a verification and confirmed that 78\u201399 per cent of the videos\u2019 visuals and audio were artificially generated, confirming that the clips were deepfakes.  Find more information in the full report. A Facebook video purportedly showed controversial cleric Ahmad Gumi asking the Nigerian Federal Government to negotiate with bandits and allocate funds for their welfare in the national budget.  However, DUBAWA\u2019s analyses revealed that the video was entirely AI-generated. No credible media reports support the claim, and Gumi has not made any such statements. The claim is therefore false. An Instagram user claimed that fluoride in toothpaste is responsible for premature grey hair in men’s beards. The claim suggested that toothpaste foam dripping onto the chin affects hair follicles. However, global health authorities such as the WHO, CDC, and the American Dental Association state there is no evidence to support such a claim.  While excessive fluoride is linked to conditions like dental and skeletal fluorosis, no medical or regulatory bodies list hair greying as a potential side effect; instead, these organisations continue to endorse fluoride in toothpaste as a safe and effective tool for reducing tooth decay. Medical and scientific experts further clarified that hair greying is a natural biological process unrelated to chemical exposure from dental products. Greying is primarily driven by genetics, ageing, stress, and nutritional deficiencies that cause a decline in melanin production. The full report is available here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1572,1571,3812,3815,123],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3263],"class_list":["post-26476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explainers","category-fact-check","category-headline","category-homepage","category-mainstream"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-6T2","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3263,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"phillip-anjorin","display_name":"Phillip Anjorin","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/98daaf5d9d7a2c5cd4ce1c417532d1cfa2ca293247710cf46a925146cc2e90e1?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-18.png?fit=1416%2C796&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26476"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26478,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26476\/revisions\/26478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26476"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=26476"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=26476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}