Facebook, X users delete posts on US-imposed visa ban on Nigerians after DUBAWA’s report

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Months after DUBAWA’s fact-check, viral posts on Facebook and X posts alleging that the United States President, Donald Trump, ordered a visa ban on Nigerians have been taken down.

In January 2025, a video went viral on social media claiming Trump had announced a visa ban on Nigerians intending to enter the country.

According to the posts, the US president made the decision because he wanted skilled professionals to stay in their countries and contribute towards the development of their nations. 

This claim went viral after the newly elected president signed a series of executive orders that significantly impacted border security and immigration. 

DUBAWA’s fact-check, however, established that the claim was misleading. 

At the time, there were speculations that Trump’s second administration might declare a visa ban on Nigerians based on the travel ban policy of 2020 that affected Nigerians, even though this only affected those who wanted to live in the country permanently.

Months after the fact-check was published, in June 2025, Trump indeed issued an absolute travel ban that affected citizens of 12 countries and partial restrictions on citizens of seven countries.

The US president had argued that the affected countries did not provide enough information on their citizens to assess potential security risks and added that some nationals were more likely to overstay their visas in the US. 

However, Nigeria was not included in the list of the 19 countries affected. The only visa restriction that affected Nigeria was announced in July 2025, requiring non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerians to be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.

Contrary to the claim, the US did not issue a visa ban against Nigerians. Trump did not make a speech to explain that the visa ban was to ensure skilled professionals remain in their countries, as claimed. 

DUBAWA recently checked the accounts fact-checked on X and Facebook and found that the posts containing the claim had been deleted. 

Screenshot of the posts

According to Buzz Voice, the above message on Facebook could mean that the post, photo, or video has been deleted by the user or removed by Facebook. 

It could also mean that the account that posted the content has been deactivated, suspended, or blocked. DUBAWA’s findings showed that this is not the case as the profile is still very active on the larger group where it was posted.  

It may also be location restrictions or search issues, particularly when the post or profile has been restricted or removed. DUBAWA’s checks also showed that location restriction does not apply to this as users in other countries could not view this post.