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Claim: A Facebook user, Tijani Salisu, shared an image claiming bandits recently attacked a market in Kebbi State and killed over 50 people.
Verdict: False! The claim that bandits killed over 50 people in a market in Kebbi State is false. The image was from an attack in Niger State. Also, the PRO of the Kebbi State Police State Command said no such attack happened in the state.
Full Text:
A Facebook user, Tijani Salisu, claimed (archived here) that bandits attacked a market in Kebbi State and killed over 50 people.
The caption reads: “Yesterday, Sept. 18, 2026, was a sad day in Kebbi State as bandits attacked and killed over 50 people in the market in Kebbi State. When will this kind of bad news stop in this country?”
As of Sept. 22, 2026, the post had generated 29 likes and 4 comments. DUBAWA observed that other users in the comments believed the claim.
One Facebook user, Ahmed, urged the government to curb the growing insecurity in the country swiftly. “Make the government do something about this insecurity o. This is becoming too much now,” he wrote in Pidgin English.
Another user, Bigidi Dadd, commented, “This is really serious. So people can’t go to the market in peace again?”
Mohammed Bechita remarked that negotiating with bandits is not the way to go. He wrote, “You see say this issue of negotiating with bandits no go work.”
Given growing security concerns in Northwestern Nigeria and the claim’s potential to heighten tension and fear among citizens, particularly in Kebbi State, where it was attributed, DUBAWA decided to verify it.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted keyword searches to verify the report of a recent attack on a market in Kebbi that claimed 50 lives. The search yielded no recent reports of any market raid or mass casualty incident in the state.
The keyword search led to reports of a recent communal clash between Fulani and Kambari groups in Lafagu village, Bagudo Local Government Area of Kebbi State, which occurred on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, claiming 15 lives, including that of a traditional ruler.
In an interview with BBC Hausa, the Commissioner of police in Kebbi State, Umar Muhammad, revealed that they have arrested six suspects in connection with the killings.
This incident was unrelated to the Facebook claim, as it was an inter-ethnic clash rather than a bandit raid on a market.
DUBAWA then ran a reverse-image search on the photograph attached to the post.
The results traced the image to news coverage of a bandit attack on the Kasuwan Daji market in Demo village, Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, which occurred on Jan. 3, 2026.
On Jan. 4, 2026, Daily Trust published a report stating that no fewer than 30 persons were killed when bandits attacked Kasuwan Daji market in Demo community, Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State. The report added that the attackers also carted away foodstuffs and other valuables worth millions of naira before setting the market ablaze.
Other media houses, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Al Jazeera, Truth Nigeria, and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), published follow-up reports on Jan. 5, 2026 regarding the incident.
In light of this, DUBAWA contacted the PRO of the Kebbi State Police Command, who categorically denied the claim, saying, “Nothing of the sort happened in Kebbi State. It’s false.”
DUBAWA also reviewed the Kebbi State Government’s official communication handles and contacted residents across local communities in the state, all of whom confirmed there was no such attack on a market in the state.
Conclusion
The claim that over 50 people were killed in a market in Kebbi State by bandits is false. The spokesperson of the Kebbi State Police Command told DUBAWA there was no such attack. Also, DUBAWA found that the image used to support the claim was from an unrelated incident.
This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.