Video of weapons smuggled into South Africa, misleading

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Elizabeth Ogunbamowo

Claim: An X user, Western Pulse, shared a video alleging it shows heavy assault rifles smuggled into South Africa by foreigners.

Verdict: Misleading! DUBAWA’s investigation showed the video had been online since 2022 by some media outlets in Nigeria, explaining how Nigeria Police Force officers confiscated weapons hidden inside a bean sack.

Full Text

Amid the rising security concerns in Nigeria and the Xenophobic attacks its citizens are currently facing in South Africa, a video showing a group of men bringing out weapons from a grain sack went viral. 

In the video, some men were seen pulling wrapped items from a sack amid heavy conversation. While one could not make out the specific words mentioned, words such as “magazine” and “pistol” stood out.

A self-acclaimed media outlet based in South Africa, @WesternPulse88, shared the video, alleging it showed arms being smuggled into South Africa by foreigners. The blog echoed the biases of anti-migrant vigilante groups in the country. 

The video was also shared on YouTube with the same caption.

In the comment section, some users vehemently refuted the claim, stating that the colours on the wall do not depict an incident in South Africa but in Nigeria. In contrast, some others believed the claim, arguing that the country’s borders are not secure against illegal migrants. 

One user, @PrincessSkhu, wrote, “I will never stop saying this, our biggest problems are at our borders, those people are selling this country for a penny and risking our lives in the process.”

Another user, @alfred_mmutle, wrote, “Can we find them and send them back immediately?” while @NatesNautical said, “Who wanna make war? Who is bringing in these guns? None of us is safe!”

DUBAWA observed that Instagram users shared the video here and here, with a different narrative. While these sets of users acknowledged that the officers were members of the Nigeria Police Force, they claimed that the incident was recent. 

Other Instagram users also shared it here, here, and here.

Due to the security crisis affecting Nigeria and the consequences of misinformation for the public, DUBAWA decided to fact-check the video.

Verification

The background shown in the video shared by the South African blog had the official colours of the Nigerian Police Force: blue, yellow, and green. These colours make up the official police flag and are prominently featured in the force’s emblem and branding, and on the walls of its offices nationwide. 

DUBAWA further conducted a video analysis using InVID. The result showed that  Sahara Reporters first shared it online on May 7, 2022. At the time, Sahara Reporters captioned the YouTube video as an operation by the Nigerian Police uncovering arms hidden in a bag of beans. The report, however, provided no further information about the incident.

The video was also shared by Oriental Times in 2022 and other pages across social media platforms, as seen here, here, here, and here. 

Meanwhile, a Vanguard report in 2022 quoted the then police spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, as saying that the police had recovered a total of 52 firearms, including AK-47 rifles hidden in bags of beans, on their way to the eastern part of the country. Olumuyiwa also listed other weapons recovered from suspects in various operations. 

Conclusion

The video showing arms hidden in a bean bag is from Nigeria, not South Africa, and it is not recent, as claimed.