Claim: An X user shared a video claiming that bandits are now recruiting new officers in Nigeria.
Verdict: Insufficient Evidence. DUBAWA found no credible evidence that the footage was recorded in Nigeria or that the individuals shown are Nigerian bandits.
Full Text
On Aug. 18, 2026, a verified X user, KILIYA (@musa_kiliya), shared a video showing a group of individuals crawling through shallow trenches covered with wooden branches, in what appears to be some form of training
The user claimed that the video shows an active recruitment and tactical training camp for armed bandits in Nigeria
The video (archived here) was captioned, “Bandits are now recruiting new officers.”
Some users interpreted the footage as evidence of a fresh recruitment exercise by armed groups in Nigeria, while others expressed concern about the security implications.
One user, Dawam Samson (@DawamSamson), wrote, “Welcome to Nigeria where bandits carry out activities in public without security actions against them.”
Abubakar A. A Zetariu (@tripleA) questioned the Nigerian military’s response, asking, “So our military can’t see this? Especially the air force.”
Another user, Moustapharr (@MustapharNuura…) wrote, “Hasbunallahu wani’imal wakil, this is deeply frightening. O Allah, vanquish them and break the backs of those who sponsor and back them.”
However, ISMAH@2013 (@ismah2013) doubted the claim, saying, “Are you sure this is Nigeria?”
As of Aug. 20, 2026, the post attracted about 136,500 views, 79 replies and 246 reposts.
DUBAWA also found similar versions of the video circulating on Facebook here, here, here and here.
Given Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges, particularly in the Northern region, and the potential of such content to create fear or misinform the public, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
DUBAWA manually examined the environment shown in the footage. The landscape appears dry and desert-like, with terrain more consistent with parts of the wider Sahel.
The footage appears to show militants undergoing training, but it is hard to tell what kind of militant or the exact location.
DUBAWA examined the language spoken by the individuals in the video and found it is neither Hausa nor Fulfulde, the two languages commonly spoken in parts of Northern Nigeria.
We used Google Gemini to transcribe portions of the speech and found that the language appeared to be Arabic, specifically a variety associated with Sudanese or Chadian Arabic.
The English translation reads, “Come on, boy! Get in! Get inside! Get underneath! Come on! Crawl (stay low), hey! Hurry, hurry! Crawl here, crawl! Crawl! Keep your head down! Crawl! Low to the ground, boy, stay low! Fast, fast… stay low! Hey guys, come on quickly underneath!”
This hints that the footage may have originated outside Nigeria.
DUBAWA also processed the video using the InVID Verification tool, extracting keyframes for further analysis. We subjected the keyframes to reverse image searches using Google, TinEye and Yandex. The searches did not produce credible evidence linking the footage to any recent bandit recruitment exercise, anywhere, including in Nigeria.
Conclusion
While the video shows a training activity, there is insufficient evidence to establish that it depicts Nigerian bandits recruiting new members, as claimed.