Claim: A Facebook user alleged that the United States military captured eight Nigerians sponsoring terrorist and banditry activities.
Verdict: Misleading. The claim distorts a US Treasury sanction on eight Nigerians for alleged links to terrorist organisations and cybercrimes.
Full Text
A 2023 report by Premium Times highlights insecurity as one of 10 critical challenges in the country that must be addressed. It stated that no matter how beautiful or high-quality the infrastructure may be, its true value diminishes when lives and property are under constant threat. This same issue persists as more citizens fall prey.
Amid these challenges, the most satisfying piece of information Nigerians would love to hear is that these security threats end and that all orchestrators are brought to book.
Recently, a Facebook user claimed (archived here) that the US military captured eight people sponsoring terrorist and bandit activities.
The claim was shared in video format, in which a man in the background reiterates the details above. He said, “The US military has captured 8 Nigerian people who are sponsoring terrorist and banditry activities in the country. If you want to know them, follow this page and share this post.”
As of April 13, 2026, the video gathered over 1,000 likes, 79 comments, 138 shares, and 8,000 views.
DUBAWA checked the post’s comment section and realised many were curious. @James Oriamaja remarked, “Drop the names. Let Nigerians and the world know them. You always say we should follow your page, but you can’t even tell us their names.”
@Aminu Ibrahim queried, “Who are those people?
@Nwa Nneka inquired, “So what happened in the end?”
We discovered that the same Facebook user has consistently shared the same narrative, while also switching the figures of alleged arrested sponsors from eight to 12 and then 15 people.
Samples of these posts can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The suspicious nature of the claim warranted scrutiny, and DUBAWA decided to verify since it relates to security, a highly sensitive aspect of public discourse in Nigeria.
Verification
DUBAWA began by searching for available reports that referenced the claim. A report published by Premium Times revealed that in February 2026, the United States government, through its Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), sanctioned eight Nigerians for alleged links to terrorist organisations and cybercrime.
The sanctions reportedly included asset freezes and restrictions on transactions with US persons and entities, with the individuals linked to groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
However, a careful review of the report shows it does not state that the US military “captured” the individuals, nor does it indicate that any arrests were made. Instead, it refers to financial sanctions and asset freezes, which differ significantly from the claim circulating online.
We also found similar reports published by other news platforms. See reports here, here, here, here, and here.
DUBAWA used the other figures that the claimant mentioned in his other posts to see if a different result would emerge with evidence supporting the claim, but we found none.
The number of times this Facebook user kept doling out the claim, and his repeated requests for people to follow his page and share his videos, clearly showed that it was only a scheme to gain more engagements and followers, without understanding the harm such an action poses to the general public.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings show that the US sanctioned eight Nigerians over alleged links to terrorism and cybercrime, not that the US military captured or arrested them. No credible report supports any arrest or military operation. The claim is, therefore, misleading.
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