Misleading image used to portray 52 persons murdered in Sokoto

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Yunusa Umar

Claim: A Facebook user, @Yusuf Maishanu Mayanchi, posted an image of lifeless bodies claiming that bandits murdered 52 persons in Sokoto within 48 hours.

Verdict: Misleading! The image doesn’t show people murdered by terrorists in Sokoto, but travellers burnt in Fasakari LGA of Katsina.

Full Text

A Facebook user, Yusuf Maishanu Mayanchi, shared an image of lifeless bodies covered with green leaves and sympathisers surrounding them. The post shared on June 6, 2026, claimed that, in less than 48 hours, terrorists had killed 52 people in Sokoto State. 

The post (archived here) had its caption in Hausa, “Aƙasa da awanni 48 Fulani yan ta adda sun kashe mutane 52 a sabon birni jahar Sokoto. Wa’yannan sune mutanen dasuke cewa suda hausawa sun zama ɗaya MAISHANU,” the caption reads.

This caption was translated to read, “In less than 48 hours, Fulani terrorists kill 52 people in a new city, Sokoto state. These are the people who claim that Hausa people are one MAISHANU.”

The claim, as of June 7, 2026, has garnered 134 reactions, 17 comments and 8 shares. Under the post, Facebook users commented with prayers and shock over the incident.

A Facebook user, Rabiu Uzo, wrote, “May God forgive them and grant them the right to their blood since this world.”

“To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return. May Allah have mercy on them,” Shamsu Bn Musa Kawaye commented.

Another user, Idris Aliyu, wrote, “May Allah bring an end to Fulani terrorists’ ‘blood of terrorism’ in Hausa land.”

Because of the sensitive nature of the claims and comments which revealed many users believed the claim, DUBAWA decided to verify it. 

Verification 

We conducted a reverse image search and traced the image to earlier publications reporting an incident in which travellers were burnt to death in Katsina State.

On Dec. 23, 2021, thesteeetjournal.org reported that bandits burnt travellers alive inside a car in Katsina with the image attached.

Similarly, Gist Mania on Dec. 23, 2021, reported the image with the same narrative that travellers were burnt to death inside a car by bandits in Fasakari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on the incident and found a publication by HumAngle, which revealed that the image dates back to June 15, 2021. 

“Six persons, including two mobile police officers and two officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed on Monday, June 14, 2021, following a terrorist attack at PGP company in Birnin Tudu, Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria,” the lead of the story reads.

We also conducted a keyword search on “53 persons killed by bandits in Sokoto” to see if such an incident or anything related occurred, but we found nothing. 

Conclusion 

The claim that 53 people were killed by bandits in Sokoto is misleading. The image used is linked to a 2021 incident in Katsina. 

This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.