Misleading video used to depict ISWAP attack in Sokoto

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Mutalib Jibril

Claim:  An X user @biafra_newsUSB shared a video alleging that the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) used 15- year-old boys to attack a military base in Sokoto. 

Verdict: False! Our investigations showed that the video has been online since 2025 and has been recycled with multiple misleading captions linking it to different incidents and locations.

Full Text

Nigeria continues to grapple with insecurity, particularly in the Northern part of the country, where attacks by insurgent groups such as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others have persisted over the years. There have been several cases of attacks on military bases by terrorists. A recent onslaught by ISWAP militants on a military base in Borno left several soldiers killed.

Against this backdrop, an X page, Biafra News & World News (@biafra_newsUSB)  shared a video (archived here) and claimed that ISWAP terrorists used 15-year-old boys to carry out attacks against a military base in Sokoto State. 

The video, though blurry, showed young men with guns shooting sporadically at a building. The camera zoomed in on others who were with heavy-duty guns, while some of the attackers were seen on motorcycles. The people in the video were not very audible, but the cameraperson chanted “Allahu Akbar” at one point.

As of Friday, June 19, 2026, the video has gained 6,114 views, 8 reposts, 31 likes, and five bookmarks. The post generated mixed reactions from commenters. 

An X user, Controversial Adult (@CntrvslAult), who commented on the post, outrightly refuted the claim’s authenticity, stating, “Una go jus de lie. This is not even Nigeria.” 

However, some X users believed that ISWAP actually attacked the military base in Sokoto. 

An X user, Khal Drogo (@mayokun_olonade), believed the claim, commenting, “So if bandits can attack a military base without any fear, that means we’re not even safe as ordinary citizens ooo. Chai, this country sha.”

Another X user, Sof (@PSofiyah3963 ), said,     

“We’re doomed in this country. Where are the soldiers while they’re attacking their base?  Are they sleeping??”

Due to mixed reactions and the sensitive nature of the claim, DUBAWA conducted a fact-check.

Verification

DUBAWA extracted keyframes from the video using INVID and submitted the clearest frame to an image reverse search. 

This search led us to a post published on X in April 2025 that described the video as showing prisoners escaping from a prison in Chad. 

The translated caption reads, “Chad: More than 100 prisoners escaped from a high-security prison in the city of Mongo, Chad. The prisoners stormed the prison administration office and seized weapons. The escape left three people dead and three injured, including the regional governor.”

Further searches showed that several media outlets reported the prison break in Mongo, Chad. However, the video had been shared by some Facebook accounts a month prior, in March 2025, with different captions claiming it depicted terrorist attacks in Borno and Zamfara states. 

DUBAWA’s investigation also found an X post on June 7, 2026, that used the same video to claim that ISWAP deployed teenage boys to attack a military base in the Niger Republic. However, searches of credible news sources yielded no reports of such an attack. 

To further verify the allegation, DUBAWA searched for recent news reports of an ISWAP attack on a military base in Sokoto State. However, we found no credible news report. 

Meanwhile, our search led us to reports published by the ICIR and TheCable in September 2021, about a terrorist attack on a military base in Sokoto. However, these reports relate to an entirely different incident that occurred four years ago and have no connection to the current claim.

DUBAWA also checked the official communication channels of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters. We found no recent report confirming an ISWAP attack on a military base in Sokoto.

Conclusion 

Our findings show that the video has been recycled and shared with multiple misleading captions linking it to different incidents in Nigeria and beyond. There’s no credible evidence that such an attack occurred in Sokoto. Therefore, the claim that ISWAP recently used 15-year-old boys to attack a military base in Sokoto is false. 

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