A drone footage of some armed Individuals in a forest alleged to be Bandits went viral on Social Media earlier this week.
The footage, said to be of bandits enjoying themselves in a forest in Northern Nigeria, was massively distributed across different online platforms in the wake of a Deadly train attack in Kaduna.
The led to massive criticisms of the Federal Government and it’s efforts to tackle Insecurity in the region.
However, in our pursuit for truth, POLITICS NIGERIA launched an investigation into the origin of the video and here is what we found.
CLAIM: The video was first appeared on Twitter via the handle of one Jackson Ude, a critic and publisher. The tweet which has now been deleted appeared on this link:
https://twitter.com/jacksonpbn/status/1511077203559206921
The video was also republished by AF News on its official handle;
https://twitter.com/AFNewsNG/status/1511214659856220161
It was also redistributed by lots of people on social media;
https://twitter.com/elenubabaMOUTH/status/1511149338365505542
VERIFICATION: Upon investigating the origins of this footage, this newspaper was able to discover that the footage was taken in Kenya.
The drone which belongs to the country’s General Service Unit(GSU) captured armed cattle rustlers hiding in a thicket with stolen livestock. This was in a location called Pokot County.
The Bandits had been terrorising residents of the area and its neighbouring Lakipia, Baringo and Samburu counties. The criminals also attempted to shoot down the drone but were unsuccessful.
VERDICT: Claims/reports that the drone footage was taken in Nigeria are FALSE
