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Claim: A Facebook page, Benjamin’s Blog, has alleged that Sierra Leonean TikToker and movie Star Peter Komba has linked up with Lionel Messi, with the duo taking a picture together.
Verdict: False! There is no evidence that Lionel Messi linked up with Peter Komba. The image is doctored.
Full Text
Peter Komba, Sierra Leone’s most-followed TikTok celebrity, made his way into Nollywood by being featured in popular Nigerian movies. Peter, seen as the new face of the Sierra Leonean movie industry, starred in his first movie with Nollywood star Regina Daniels in 2024.
The movie, “Lovers and Foes,” featured renowned movie stars like Timini Egbuson and Arthur Ejiofor.
Since then, Peter Komba has appeared on bigger screens with popular Nollywood stars.
However, a viral post by Benjamin’s Blog claimed that Peter A. Komba has linked up with Lionel Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The blog shared three photos of Peter Komba in a white vest, sitting beside Lionel Messi, with the caption: “Wow!! Peter A. Komba linked up with Leonel Messi.” He added, “What a privilege for Messi; Messi’s dream has finally come to pass.”
This sparked controversy among social media followers, garnering 1,100 likes, 104 comments, and 21 shares within 23 hours of the claim being posted.
While the majority of followers doubted the claim, a few of them believed it.
The claim was also reported on different Sierra Leonean blogs like here, here, here,
DUBAWA decided to fact-check the claim to clarify the doubts among social media users.
Verification
When DUBAWA conducted a Google keyword search to verify the claim, there was no evidence of the claim.
Further search revealed that Peter Komba uploaded the photo to his official Facebook page on May 30, 2025, with the caption “I love this.”
DUBAWA contacted Peter Komba via WhatsApp regarding the claim, but he did not respond.
The researcher also subjected the picture to an Al-detector tool, ”ImgDetect,” which showed that it is 99% Al-generated.
Conclusion
The claim that Peter A. Komba linked up with Lionel Messi is false because no evidence supports it. The image is AI-generated.
