Claim: A viral video circulating on Facebook claims that Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, said any state governor who negotiates with bandits is a terrorist and soldiers will be withdrawn from such states.
Verdict: False. The video is AI-generated. DUBAWA found no evidence that the Minister of Defence made such a statement.
Full Text
In 2025, some Nigerian state governors, especially in Katsina and Kaduna, engaged in various forms of peace arrangements or negotiations with armed bandit groups as part of efforts to curb persistent violence, kidnappings, and community insecurity.
Meanwhile, Federal authorities have repeatedly cautioned state or local governments against peace deals with bandits, arguing such negotiations embolden criminal networks, undermine national security operations, and complicate efforts to defeat insurgents.
As the debate over the efficacy and risks of these peace initiatives continues, a Facebook user recently shared a short video (archived here) purportedly showing Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, issuing a stern warning against negotiations with bandits.
“Any State governor that negotiates with the bandit terrorists, the governor is a member of the terrorist group; we would withdraw soldiers from that State,” Gen. Musa allegedly warned in the video.
As of Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the video had recorded over 720,000 views, 14,000 reactions, and more than 1,200 comments.
While some Facebook users dismissed the video as fabricated with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI), others believed it was original.
“This is AI,” Khalifa Ashiru Danlinan declared.
“You do not need to be told that this is a work of an AI-generated,” Samaila Adamu pointed out.
“When two elephants are fighting, the grass will suffer it,” Alo Stephen Jnr. commented.
Due to the sensitivity of the claim and the conflicting comments, DUBAWA decided to verify the video.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a manual frame-by-frame analysis of the video. We noticed several visual inconsistencies commonly associated with AI-generated footage. For instance, a man wearing a traditional cap who appeared behind the supposed minister suddenly disappeared in later frames without any logical transition.
Another observation is that the man on the right-hand side of the General wore a cap that later disappeared, leaving his head bare for the remainder of the video.
DUBAWA also subjected the video clip to multiple AI and deepfake detection tools.
Using Deepware, a video-analysis platform, the footage was flagged with a 30 per cent likelihood of deepfake content, indicating signs of digital manipulation. While Seferbekov rated the video 84 per cent likely to be a deepfake.
Another detection tool, Hive AI, detected a 94 per cent probability that the video content is AI-generated.
DUBAWA also carried out extensive keyword searches on Google, major Nigerian media platforms, and Defence Headquarters Nigeria communication channels to determine whether the Minister of Defence made such a statement.
While no credible news organisation reported the statement attributed to the minister, Gen. Musa has repeatedly warned state governments against peace deals with terrorists and bandits.
Conclusion
The video clip shared by the Facebook claimant is AI-generated. Therefore, the claim is false.