Claim: A Facebook user shared a video claiming that an investigative journalist from the United States has been in Nigeria for over four years monitoring developments in the country.
Verdict: Misleading. Judd Saul is a missionary, not an investigative journalist as claimed.
Full Text
As conversations on external influence continue to top discussions, these arguments, though substantial, may create narratives that demean or delegitimise international relations of all sorts.
A Facebook user, @Legitupdates042, shared a 21-second video (archived here) with an image of a man attached, claiming the image is that of an investigative journalist from the United States (US) who has lived in Nigeria for over four years and closely monitors developments in the country.
The video also included images of US President Donald Trump, President Bola Tinubu, and a man in a black polo shirt, the said journalist.
The man speaking to the camera said, “Guys, are you aware that a United States investigative journalist and his investigation team have been in Nigeria monitoring what has been happening in Nigeria? Now, have you watched this man’s video? He is an investigative journalist who has been in Nigeria with his team for over four years.”
As of Oct. 12, 2026, the post had 21,000 likes, 514 comments, 1,000 shares and over a million views.
Many people who engaged with it appeared to believe the claim, while some built new narratives from it.
@Ugbo Chidebere, for instance, said, “ They are not monitoring anything. They are mining minerals.”
@Adenrele Fabunmi also wrote, “ We know we don’t have business with them, but they have business with us, which is our natural resources.”
@Habeebullan Ola asked, “The way they monitor Libya, Venezuela and Iran?”
The same claim was also shared here, and here.
While this might look like an ordinary claim, the conversations it is generating suggest foreign surveillance and, if false, could put the alleged journalists in danger and affect diplomatic relations or perception.
As a result, DUBAWA set out to identify the man in the image, what he does, and whether he is an investigative journalist.
Verification
DUBAWA took a screenshot of the image described in the video and ran it through Google Lens. The search led to a video posted on Instagram shared in November 2025.
The video was shared with the caption, “We discovered a camp operated by a Fulani Muslim Terrorist group, where Christian men, women and children were captured, starved, and brutally beaten to death. There were even children who watched their siblings tortured and killed.”
The snapshot attached to the Facebook video matches the Instagram video. He wears the same black polo shirt, which carries the logo and the words “Equipping the Persecuted”, and sits in front of the same printed banner of faces.
In the video, he says his team came across Christian captives held by Fulani militants and appeals to the US government to pressure the Nigerian government to act.
In the first seconds of the video, the man introduces himself as Judd Saul, the executive director of Equipping the Persecuted.
Who is Judd Saul?
DUBAWA looked him up and found that the Washington Times calls him a missionary and executive director of Equipping the Persecuted.
The organisation’s own team page describes him as a “family man, award-winning documentary filmmaker, entrepreneur, and missionary”.
The Daily Caller describes him as the head of Truth Nigeria and of the Christian advocacy group Equipping the Persecuted.
None of the publications DUBAWA reviewed describes him as a journalist or investigative journalist.
What exactly does he do?
Equipping the Persecuted is a humanitarian non-profit chartered in Sioux City, Iowa, in 2019, according to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).
The Washington Times says it provides medical aid to victims of attacks in Nigeria.
The claim he has spent “four years” in Nigeria does not match the record. The Washington Times says Saul began working in Nigeria in 2011, which is about 15 years.
The organisation’s profile also reveals he has served there for over ten years and continues to visit three to four times a year. That describes repeated trips over about fifteen years. DUBAWA found no source reporting that he has lived in Nigeria continuously for four years.
Although the organisation runs Truth Nigeria, a news outlet that publishes reports on attacks on Christians in Nigeria, its journalists do the reporting.
For example, a February 2025 Truth Nigeria report that matches the content of the Instagram video is credited to its conflict reporters, Luka Binniyat and Mike Odeh James, not to Saul.
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) credits him with building the outlet’s network of local reporters. He is described as someone who leads an organisation and its media arm, not an investigative journalist.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings show that the man in the video is Judd Saul, a missionary and executive director of Equipping the Persecuted. Although he is associated with Truth Nigeria, a news outlet that publishes reports about attacks on Christians in Nigeria, there is no evidence that he is an investigative journalist. Thus, the claim is misleading.