A video circulating on social media, purportedly showing soldiers interrogating a man in Nigeria, has been found to be false. The footage, which has garnered significant attention and sparked concerns about security in Nigeria, was actually filmed in Sudan. The video was shared by a Facebook user, Lucky Okechukwu Biafra, on September 15, 2026, and had accumulated 3,000 views, five comments, and 45 shares by September 21, 2026.
The video features soldiers in uniform, questioning a man who appears to be in civilian clothing. The soldiers' uniforms and flags displayed in the footage were examined, revealing that they match those of the Sudanese military. Specifically, the flag features a red, white, and black color scheme with a green stripe. This discovery prompted further investigation into the origins of the video.
Researchers at DUBAWA, a fact-checking organization, analyzed the video and found that the language spoken is not any of the major languages spoken in Nigeria, but rather Sudanese Arabic. Using Google Gemini, a language identification tool, confirmed that the language spoken in the video is Sudanese Arabic. This finding, combined with the visual evidence, strongly suggests that the video was filmed in Sudan.
Further investigation revealed that the video was originally posted on July 25, 2026, by a Facebook user based in Tambul, a city in central Sudan. The user, who typically posts videos related to Sudanese military activities, has a history of sharing content related to the Sudanese military. This information, along with the language and visual evidence, confirms that the video was filmed in Sudan.
The video was also shared by another Facebook user, Esmat Ismail Ali, on July 27, 2026, and was reported by a Sudanese news outlet, Sudan War Monitor, which covers the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The outlet's report detailed clashes between the two groups in the Kordofan region.
Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war between the SAF, led by General Abdel al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by Mohamed Dagalo (also known as Hemedti). The conflict has resulted in significant violence and displacement in the country. The Sudanese military recently announced that it had captured the al-Mazroub region in North Kordofan state following clashes with the RSF.
In conclusion, the video in question was filmed in Sudan, not Nigeria, and its misattribution has contributed to misinformation about security in Nigeria. This fact-checking effort was conducted by DUBAWA, with support from the Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), and the European Union.
Key points
- The video showing soldiers interrogating a man was actually filmed in Sudan, not Nigeria.
- The video was originally posted on July 25, 2026, by a Facebook user based in Sudan.
- The misattribution of the video has contributed to misinformation about security in Nigeria.
