Sahara Reporters and other social media platforms have pulled down misleading posts concerning the attack in Yobe State, following DUBAWA’s detailed fact check.
On May 10, 2026, Sahara Reporters shared a one-minute-35-second video on its X account, claiming it showed Boko Haram terrorists overrunning two military bases in Yobe State. They claimed the attack led to the death of many soldiers and police officers in Buni Yadi, the hometown of the state governor, Mai Mala Buni.
The sensational post went viral, racking up over 148,000 views, thousands of retweets, and spreading across multiple Facebook pages. The reactions mainly criticised the Nigerian military and sparked public outrage.
However, DUBAWA’s digital forensics analysis found the footage to be recycled and misleading. While an attack by the Islamic State-West African Province (ISWAP) did occur in Gujiba Local Government Area on May 8, 2026, official military reports confirmed the assault was successfully repelled. Approximately 50 terrorists were neutralised, though two soldiers paid the ultimate price.
DUBAWA traced the viral video to February 2024 using reverse image search, proving that it depicted an unrelated bandit incident in Zamfara State from over two years ago.
When DUBAWA followed up on Sahara Reporters’ X platform on May 29, 2026, we discovered that the post in question had been deleted.
One of the Facebook pages that posted the claim also followed suit, as seen here. However, DUBAWA observed that most of the pages have yet to delete the post, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.