Claim: A video surfaced on Twitter with the claim that Boko Haram insurgents and bandits have invaded Jos, Nigeria.
The viral video claiming Boko Haram and bandits have invaded Jos is misleading as verification has revealed that the video only showed residents running away from enforcement officers.
Full Text
Tension gripped Jos, the Plateau State capital, on August 14, 2021, following an attack on twenty-five people who were confirmed dead and 23 injured along Rukuba Road in Jos North Local Government Area of the state.
After the incident, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on three Local Government Areas (Bassa, Jos South, and Jos North) to contain the escalating security threat, but a 24 hours curfew was imposed on 15 August, 2021 in Jos North Local Government Area to contain further security threats.
Now social media users reacted differently to the incident. On August 19, a video was posted by Emeka Gift (@Emekannaoma) with the claim that boko haram insurgents and bandits have invaded Jos Nigeria after taking over major parts of Borno.
The post got 520 retweets, 38 quote retweets, 44 comments and 324 reactions, as of August 24, 2021.
One Twitter user, Uwaoma Darachimereze (@Udarachimereze), who believed the claim, replied “They want to practice what happened in Afghanistan in Jos Where are the military shifting always to the east for innocent youths the work has called to obey in the state of Jos Nigeria where are you what are you doing come quick to face the main problems of the country not IPOB”
But another reply by oluwanifemi of Isoko @brokenbutloveed counterered the claim. The user wrote, “STOP SPREADING FAKE NEWS!
“THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN THE WAY YOU’RE PAINTING IT OUT TO BE!
“These people defiled (defied) curfew laws and came out, these guys on miles and vans are military not bandits!”
Security is currently very sensitive especially in Plateau state, and a claim as this one requires prudent attention. It is as a result of this reality that Dubawa decided to verify the authenticity of this claim.
Verification
The video showed residents running for safety as army Hilux and eight security men on bikers were seen passing. A feminine voice in the background could be heard laughing and saying, “kai kai! har da mota, sai shegen soro, ni dama su shiga Lai in Hausa language, meaning “fear fear… I wish the uniform could enter our street.”
On Facebook, Dubawa saw a publication on Newsday on 16 August, 2021. It reads, “DSS have warned about Jos attack A security consultant, Onyekachi Adekoya, has said that notorious insurgent sect, Boko Haram, threatened to launch a carnage in Plateau State days before no fewer than 25 Fulani travellers were intercepted and killed by suspected Irigwe militia in Jos, the state capital. Adekoya also said the Department of State Services, months back, provided intelligence about the movement of insurgents into Plateau State”.
When this fact checker clicked on the link to read the full story, a page not found response was returned.
Dubawa went on to conduct a keyword search on Google and it revealed that residents of Jos North Local Government Area had defied the curfew placed on the LGA and security men have been working tirelessly to make sure residents comply duly.
The report noted that students of the University of Jos were seen boarding vehicles and villagers were seen running a few businesses, while security officials were said to be seen trying to enforce the curfew.
So to verify this assertion, Dubawa spoke to some of the residents.
A resident of Angwan Rukuba, Daniel Ekoja said on the 17th August 2021, security operatives around Bauchi ring road,Terminus and some parts of Jos North took laws into their hands by flogging indigenes who violated the 24hours curfews imposed by the plateau state government in Jos North.
“people were running for succour in my street when security men started chasing people that violated the curfew to leave the street as they were flogging indigenes with big sticks, we recorded it on our phones” he said.
“From what happened in my neighborhood, I think this video is showing what happened in another neighborhood not Boko haram insurgents” he added
Another resident from Tudun Wada, Christian Emmanuel, said she also saw security men chasing people that violated the curfew in her neighbourhood.
“Security men where chasing people on our street because they didn’t adhere to the curfew imposed by the state government, people were running off the street looking for places to hide” she said
Dubawa also conducted a keyframe analysis of the video using various reverse image search engines such as TinEye, Google reverse image search and Yandex. But there was no relevant result.
Is it true that Boko haram invaded Jos?
This fact-checker observed that the vehicles in the video showed two army green Toyota Hilux, and it is obvious that Boko haram Toyota Hilux is painted black with Arabic inscription.
So to verify further that Boko Haram insurgents and bandits have invaded Jos, Dubawa contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, Plateau State Command, Gabriel Ubah Ugaba, via WhatsApp and he said the claim is a social media propaganda, noting that
Jos is peaceful and everyone is going about their lawful businesses.
“Nothing of such happened on the Plateau. We should beware of fake news, please”
This fact checker realized that the purported video was used out of its original context to paint a misleading story.
Conclusion
The viral video claiming Boko Haram and bandits have invaded Jos is misleading as verification has revealed that the video only showed residents running away from enforcement officers.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the 2021 Kwame Karikari Fact-checking Fellowship partnership with JAY 101.9 FM Jos to facilitate the ethos of truth in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
