DUBAWA<\/a> saw that the claim is a recirculating, old one. There is no agency in Nigeria like the Environmental Protection Agency. We also conducted a keyword search and observed that no credible media organisation reported such an announcement or warning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As misinformation continues to swirl across social media platforms, this week was no exception. From fabricated stories to AI-generated videos and photos wrongly attributed, several misleading stories grabbed public attention.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a breakdown of the top misleading claims that were debunked this week: A Facebook page shared an image of two men claiming they were Fulani kidnappers apprehended after falling in love with their victims. Part of the post\u2019s caption read \u201cJust In: Two Hausa-Fulani kidnappers who fell in love with their victims after raping them have been arrested in Kaduna.\u201d DUBAWA checked and saw that the image was taken during the arrest of two terrorists by the Nigerian Police in 2022. The arrest happened in Taraba State, not Kaduna. They were arrested in connection with kidnapping and banditry carried out in Taraba, Adamawa, and Gombe States, not linked to their victims as claimed. In Sierra Leone, a Facebook page, Sierra Phoenix, posted viral photos of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen and Nicki Minaj in a post-match pose, claiming the duo had taken them just after Nigeria\u2019s defeat. The claim reads: \u201cNikki Minaj and Osimhen met in Morocco\u2026Although Nigeria lost, at least he got to meet some beautiful people.\u201d Reverse image search and other verification tools revealed that AI generated the images, and no evidence was found to confirm that Nicki Minaj and Osimhen posed for photos after Nigeria\u2019s defeat to Morocco. A Facebook user shared a Punch report that fans are advocating for the release of Channels TV host Seun Okinbaloye following a controversial interview. \u201cFans advocate for Seun Okinbaloye\u2019s release after controversial interview,\u201d the headline of the publication reads. DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that Punch newspaper never published such an article about the Channels Television journalist. Furthermore, contrary to the report that Seun made controversial statements in an interview warranting his arrest, details of the original interview show that the \u201cPolitics Today\u201d host discussed his career growth. A Facebook user recently shared a short video purportedly showing Nigeria\u2019s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, issuing a stern warning against negotiations with bandits. \u201cAny State governor that negotiates with the bandit terrorists, the governor is a member of the terrorist group; we would withdraw soldiers from that State,\u201d Gen. Musa allegedly warned in the video. DUBAWA\u2019s analysis found that the video contains multiple visual inconsistencies. AI detection tools further flagged the video as likely manipulated. Additionally, no credible media outlet or official Defence Headquarters channel reported the alleged statement. A Facebook page shared a video of Riley Moore, West Virginia\u2019s second congressional district representative, addressing the United States (US) Congress. The post claimed the 45-year-old lawmaker said he\u2019ll advise Trump to push for the division of Nigeria in response to the insecurity targeting Christian communities in the country. We checked, and DUBAWA\u2019s findings revealed that Riley Moore did not intend to convince Donald Trump of Nigeria\u2019s secession as a policy response to the country’s insecurity. A viral WhatsApp message allegedly from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns Nigerians about the current extreme air pollution, which is harmful to health. Parts of the message read, \u201cDear Sir\/Madam, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has informed us that the current weather is not harmattan, but an extreme form of air pollution that is harmful to health.\u201d DUBAWA saw that the claim is a recirculating, old one. There is no agency in Nigeria like the Environmental Protection Agency. We also conducted a keyword search and observed that no credible media organisation reported such an announcement or warning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27464,"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":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_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":[3793],"class_list":["post-27463","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-78X","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3793,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"lademi-aborisade","display_name":"Lademi Aborisade","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?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\/2026\/01\/image-93.png?fit=768%2C432&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27463","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=27463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27465,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27463\/revisions\/27465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27463"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=27463"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=27463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}