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Claim: An Instagram user, @Flopymedia, shared a video of uniformed men disembarking from boats, stating the US Army just landed in Bonny Island, Rivers State.
Verdict: False. The Nigerian Presidency and the Rivers State Police have confirmed that no US troops landed in Bonny Island or anywhere else in Nigeria. The video circulating online is unrelated to any military operation in the country.
Full Text
It’s been over a week since Donald Trump made a statement threatening to send United States (US) troops to Nigeria if its leaders fail to address the killing of Christians.
Since then, social media has been filled with posts, comments, and reactions from Nigerians. While many have shared mixed opinions about his remarks, others have maximised the opportunity to spread false claims that only aim to mislead people. See samples of such debunked claims by DUBAWA here and here.
Recently, an Instagram user @Flopy media claimed that the US Army landed in Rivers State, Nigeria.
The full description attached to the post read: “Breaking news: US Army lands in Bonny Island, Rivers State. Donald Trump wasn’t playing around.”
The post was shared with an image of Donald Trump and a 10-second video showing uniformed men disembarking from boats at a seaside location.
In the background of the clip, a man is heard speaking the Igbo language. DUBAWA consulted a translator who interpreted it to be: “This, our place is smelling. Where are these people coming from? Is there anything they even understand?”
As of Nov. 11, 2025, the post had 50 likes, 110 comments, 46 reposts, and 41,000 views.
From the comments, @Evakidbtc wrote, “I want to camp where oil is. Don’t you all know it is our oil that they are here to carry?”
Another user, @Maryam Hammani, said, “These people are here for our oil and gold, but they said they are fighting for Christians, okay. Besides, is it Bonny Island that bandits and boko haram are?”
@Abba Abdullahi, who seemed to believe the claim, asked further, “How many men did he send to carry out the operation?”
@Ayoola560 replied in an enthusiastic tone, “Looks like our problems are finally coming to an end. They should be quiet about it and carry out the operations in all the designated locations. We might finally be able to live in peace.”
@Egroycecommented, “This is already making me scared.”
“I hope this is not true. If it is, there is going to be a very big problem,” one user, @Big Ray, added.
Seeing how some users believed the claim and the likelihood of the post reaching a wider audience and causing panic, we decided to verify and get the facts straight.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted keyword searches to see if there were credible updates confirming that the US Army was in Nigeria. The search led to a report noting a response from the Presidency. The Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, dismissed the viral video on X.
He wrote, “This is false!!!!”
The Presidency confirmed that no US troops had landed in Bonny Island or anywhere else in Nigeria.
While DUBAWA would normally dismiss claims when a disclaimer is issued, we found that social media users have continued to share the claims, and many readers appear to believe them. Samples of such posts can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
We attempted to trace the source of the video using InVID WeVerify. The video was split into keyframes, which were searched on TinEye, Yandex, and Google Lens. All results led only to videos related to the recent claim, with no earlier uploads or sources identified.
Suspecting the video might be fabricated, we tested it on Deepware.ai. The tool confirmed that the footage is genuine and not a deepfake.
DUBAWA made repeated efforts to find other appearances of the clip online, but all efforts proved futile. This is partly because videos recorded on mobile phones and uploaded directly to social media often lack metadata or are not widely reposted. This makes them difficult to trace.
While Deepware.ai confirmed the video’s authenticity, there is no other evidence online linking it to Bonny Island or any US military operation.
Lastly, DUBAWA contacted the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, who debunked the claim and urged the public to dismiss it.
She said, “This is clearly an attempt by social media users to divert the attention of Nigerians into starting a conversation about how the US had landed in Rivers just to get its oil or natural resources. There has been no invasion, and the people of Rivers and those around the Bonny community have witnessed no such thing. People online should ignore it.”
This response aligns with the statement issued by the Presidency and thus confirms that the video circulating online is false.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings confirm that the claim of US troops landing in Bonny Island, Rivers State, is false. Both the Nigerian Presidency and the Rivers State Police have confirmed that no such event occurred.
