Screenshot from the viral video of the militia in the camp. Photo source: Lawrence Ibe.
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Claim: A Facebook user, Lawrence Ibe, shared a video showing a large gathering of armed men claiming they are bandits preparing for an attack.
Verdict: Misleading. Verification shows the footage is linked to members of the Amhara Fano militia in Ethiopia
Full Text
On June 4, a Facebook user, Lawrence Ibe, shared a video showing hundreds of armed men gathered in what appears to be a temporary camp. The user in the post (archived here) insinuated that these men were preparing to attack and urged Nigerians to prepare to defend themselves.
“Brace yourselves. What’s coming has never been seen before. According to them, they claim this is just a camp, and that they have many others. Do everything within your power to protect yourself and your family. You’re all on your own now,” the post’s caption reads.
As of June 5, 2026, the post had generated over 50,000 views, 216 reactions, 132 comments and 152 shares.
Although the post did not explicitly state that the footage was from Nigeria, the warning prompted speculation among users. While some users questioned the origin of the video, others interpreted it as evidence of a looming security threat.
Muhammad Sani Nalele, “at every cost avoid travelling by road.”
Adekunle Kolawole, “This is an old video, and it’s not in Nigeria.”
Responding to Adekunle, the poster replied to him as “crazy supporter of evil,” while Wake Up NegroChristian David also replied to Adekunle with “na for your church or mosque.”
DUBAWA also saw that another Facebook user shared the video here on June 5, 2026, with the caption “Their camp is well motivated against Nigerian Christian’s. Now you understand when I say Christian genocide has been activated.”
We also found the claim on YouTube here and on X here.
As of Friday, June 5, 2026, the second Facebook post that mentioned Nigeria here had gathered over 21,000 views, 123 reactions, 143 comments and 38 shares.
Given the conflicting comments the claim has generated and to curb triggering narratives, DUBAWA decided to investigate the source of the video.
Verification
To determine the origin of the footage, we subjected key frames from the video to reverse-image searches.
The search results linked the footage to Tigray Times on Facebook, an independent, regional media organisation and news outlet focusing on socio-economic, political and current events in Tigray, Ethiopia. It relates the video to members of the Amhara Fano militia, an armed group active in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.
Amhara Fano militia is an ethno-nationalist militia in Ethiopia fighting a prolonged insurgency against the Federal Government. Originating as informal volunteer defence groups, they aided federal forces during the Trigay War but became insurgents in 2023 after the government attempted to disband regional forces.
Further checks led to a fact-check published by Africa Check, which identified the footage as showing members of the Fano armed group in Ethiopia. According to the fact-check, the video has previously been circulated online with misleading claims about its origin and context.
The findings from the reverse-image search were consistent with Africa Check’s verification.
Conclusion
Our findings reveal that the video shows members of the Amhara Fano militia in Ethiopia. The claim is therefore misleading.
This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.”
