|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: A Hausa Facebook page, @CNB Hausa, shared a post claiming that a fighter jet involved in the Iran-Israel conflict had gone off course toward Nigeria.
Verdict: False. There is no credible evidence that any fighter jet from the Iran-Israel conflict is heading toward Nigerian airspace. The image used in the post is unrelated, and no official or independent sources confirm such an incident.
Full Text
In mid-June 2025, the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran grew into a fierce military confrontation. Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, which targeted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and military installations, including command centres, missile sites, and key personnel.
In retaliation, Iran fired over 400 ballistic missiles and deployed hundreds of drones toward Israeli cities such as Tehran, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. This violence has resulted in significant casualties, widespread destruction, and growing fears of a broader regional war.
Amidst this, DUBAWA came across a Facebook post shared by @CNB Hausa, a page that describes itself as a news outlet. The post, dated Feb. 15, 2025, features the image of a fighter jet and a caption in Hausa that reads,
“WATA SABUWA: Jirgin da ya yi batan hanya ya tinkaro Najeriya ya samu daukewar sabis a hanya, amma tini kasar İran ta baza jirage ana nemansa a sararin samaniya.”
Translated: “BREAKING NEWS: A jet that went off course is heading towards Nigeria and has lost service along the way, but Iran has already deployed aircraft and is searching for it in the skies.”
As of June 18, 2025, the post had generated 258 likes, 43 comments, and 21 shares.
In the comments, reactions ranged from sarcasm to alarming support. @Ahmad Bojude wrote, “Hahahahha. Ya hadu da sharrin network. Muma haka muke fama a kasar,” translated as “Hahaha. It got caught in network problems. That’s exactly what we also suffer from in this country.”
@Bilyaminu Muktar commented, “Allah yasa yayo Najeriya yakashe kuwa wallahi,” meaning “May God make it descend on Nigeria and kill, I swear.”
@ Bukar Garba added: “Allah ya sa kar a ganshi sai yazo Nigeria yakashe koda mutum miliyan daya a Lagos,” meaning “I pray they don’t discover it until it reaches Nigeria and kills at least one million people in Lagos.”
Seeing the sudden link made between the Iran-Israel conflict and Nigerian airspace, and the possibility of this claim sparking unrest and confusion, DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim.
Verification
We conducted a reverse image search using Google Lens to search for the image of the fighter jet photo shared. The search revealed that the image is not recent and has been circulating online for a long time. The jet in the picture is an F-35 Lightning II, a fifth-generation stealth multirole combat aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin. The roundel on the aircraft clearly identifies it as part of the Israeli Air Force.
While Israel indeed uses the F-35, the image shared in the claim appears to be a stock photo, not tied to any current operation or deployment. It has previously appeared in aviation blogs, news features, and military hardware discussions.
DUBAWA checked and found no credible reports from military sources, flight tracking services, or international news outlets confirming that a fighter jet deployed for the Iran-Israel conflict went off course toward Nigerian airspace.
We also did not find any public statements or alerts by the Nigerian Air Force and the Ministry of Defence regarding such aircraft. In situations involving foreign military aircraft approaching national airspace, official responses and media coverage are sent, yet no such update exists in this case.
Conclusion
Besides the Facebook page where the claim was shared, DUBAWA found no supporting evidence from credible news platforms or government sources confirming that a fighter jet is headed towards Nigeria. The claim is baseless and designed to misinform.
