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The first week of July 2025 was marred by misinformation about Baltasar Engonga’s trial, health claims, and AI-generated videos sharing war and climate change-related claims.
Here are five of the claims DUBAWA verified this week.
- Baltasar sentenced to 18 years?
Over 300 sex tapes of Baltasar Engonga, the Director General of Equatorial Guinea’s National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), broke the internet in November 2024 after his escapades with multiple women. This incident happened when the country was investigating him for alleged fraud.
While the matter appeared to have died down, X users recently claimed that Baltasar had been sentenced to 18 years. With over four million views, 32,000 likes, 5,300 retweets, 5,600 bookmarks, and 1,800 controversial replies as of July 3, 2025, several users appeared to buy this story.
DUBAWA investigated this and found that Baltasar is currently standing trial for criminal charges, with a possible sentence of up to 18 years. In comparison with the claim, the viral narrative is rather misleading.
Read more about our findings here.
- Faeces from rats cure appendix?
Ibraheem Niass, a follower of Zaria-based cleric Sheikh Usman Kusfa Zaria, famously known as “Rigi Rigi,” recently released a video claiming that faeces from rats cure the appendix.
He asked patients to dissolve them in water and drink, and “God will instruct the appendix to melt and pass out through excretion.”
On the contrary, research has shown that contact with rat faeces often leads to infections like leptospirosis, hantavirus, and salmonellosis. DUBAWA did not find scientific evidence that supports the claim that rat faeces can cure appendicitis. At best, the claim is false.
Check out the full details here.
- Video of Abia infrastructural development misrepresented as Imo’s
In the past, DUBAWA has debunked several narratives ascribing an infrastructural success in one location to another. Just recently, an X user repeated the same cycle when he posted a 40-second drone shot, claiming it shows the latest infrastructural development in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.
Based on previous events, we conducted a reverse image search, only to find that the video was not shot in Owerri but in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State.
Read the full fact check here.
- X users use AI to spread false information about the Israel-Iran war
The ongoing war between Iran and Israel is far from over, as attacks from both sides are yet to cease despite the US call for a ceasefire. While credible newspapers have documented the details of every airstrike in the past weeks, DUBAWA also found multiple parody X accounts using artificial intelligence to share false stories about this war.
We exposed these profiles, their tactics and the false narratives they shared.
Read our findings in this analysis.
- Facebook user shares snow photos reportedly from Nigeria
While it is not entirely out of place for Nigerians to want to have that UK or US experience without getting a visa, they may be overstepping by putting out false information about it.
A Facebook user recently posted three images of people in the snow. He said these photos were taken in the northern and southern parts of Nigeria.
Several users challenged the claimant, calling him a fluke. Well, DUBAWA’s findings were not far-fetched. Not only does it not snow in Nigeria, but experts have also told us that the country’s tropical location makes snowfall impossible.
Read their insights here.
