Claim: Viral page on Facebook shares video claiming foreign support for bandits in Northern Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading! A reverse image search reveals that the video originates from Sudan. Uniforms and flags seen in the video all indicate that they belong to the Sudan.
Full Text
Violence and banditry in Northern Nigeria, particularly in the Northwest and North-Central regions, have evolved into a severe national security crisis. This is characterised by organised criminal gangs engaging in mass abductions, village raids, and possession and killings for ransom.
Biafran Update, a Facebook page, posted (archived link) a video alleging military interference with bandits in the North, and support from foreigners.
“If you think these northern terrorists are just bandits, then u are wrong. See how they drop logistics for them… even whites are among them. This is huge. Please share this, please,” the user wrote.
In the video, we see men dressed in military outfits carrying ammunition, as well as foreigners disembarking from a helicopter.
The post, which has now gone viral, has amassed 6,000 views, 48 likes, and 11 comments since it was posted on Nov. 10, 2025.
The post was also shared on X and here.
The virality of this post, the sensitive nature of the claim, and the possibility of it sparking religious tension made DUBAWA fact-check it.
Verification
To authenticate the claim, we conducted a keyword search to find any information about the alleged deployment to Nigeria. We found that no credible media outlet has reported this development to date.
Using Google Lens, we conducted a reverse image search on a fragment of the video. The results revealed that the video originated in Sudan.
A Facebook account had earlier posted the video with the inscription “شاهد منهم ينزلون من .هليكوبتر في دارفور” Using Google Translate, the result showed that the text in English reads “Watch them descend from a helicopter in Darfur.”
Darfur is a vast, historically significant region situated in the western part of Sudan, in North-Eastern Africa. It borders the countries of the Central African Republic, Libya, and Chad.
We also noticed the uniform worn in the video; it appears to be the type commonly worn in Sudan. Another observation from the full video we found on YouTube shows a flag briefly waved in the video. A close look at the green, yellow, and red flags shows it is not a Nigerian flag.
Using the colour we observed, we noted that several African countries (Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Bolivia) feature this colour combination in their Flags. However, following the pattern of the flag in the video, which features a red stripe in the middle, it resembled Cameroon’s flag.
The full video, posted on YouTube, also confirmed that the event took place in Sudan, not Nigeria.
Conclusion
The video claiming foreign support for bandits in Northern Nigeria is misleading. The footage does not originate from Nigeria but from Darfur, Sudan. The uniforms and flag seen in the video all indicate that they belong to Sudanese forces.