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Claim: Clip showing a multitude of ‘bandits’ allegedly arrested in Kontagora forest.
Verdict: Against the claim, the video emanated from the arrest of illegal miners that took place in Taraba State in August, 2023. The claim is misleading.
Full Text
Real Life International, a Facebook page, posted footage showing countless men recently arrested in a forest. The user attributed the clip to how a large number of bandits were arrested during an army operation that took place in a Kontagora forest Niger State.
The handler wrote: “Crisis: The forest of Kotangora in niger state was ransacked yesterday. By Nigerian Army without blood overflowing, see the numbers of bandits brought out from the forest. If it was in Biafra land now. It would be a pool of blood, the burning of innocent people’s houses, burning of markets by the so-called security agency. This country is not equal.”
The post has been redistributed on Facebook as seen here, here, here, here, and here. DUBAWA carried out this fact check due to its virality.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a Google keyword search to see if such an occurrence was reported by any newspaper but found none. We also made multiple keyword searches on YouTube but found nothing about this claim.
We then divided the clip into keyframes using Invid and conducted a reverse image search on each frame. This revealed an Aug. 19, 2023, news video published on YouTube by the TVC News.
Titled “Taraba Task Force Arrests 3,500 Suspected Illegal Miners,” it detailed how the Taraba Task Force, led by its Chairman, Brigadier General Jeremiah Farensa, arrested a group of illegal miners at Dogon Yatsu forest in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State.
After the arrest, TVC interviewed the site manager of the mine, Abdul Hayatu, who claimed that their operation was licensed. We took a screenshot of him speaking and compared it with where he was shown in the circulating video. He was dressed in blue Yar Shara and seated on the ground with others, as seen below:
A screenshot of Mr Hayatu speaking with TVC after his arrest.
Conclusion
Our findings have revealed that the video has nothing to do with banditry in Niger State. The claim is misleading.
