Earlier on, a video showing suspected criminals arrested with dogs and locally-made guns circulating on social media particularly on X (formerly Twitter).
Maria Ogbonna Eke (@Mariaeke) , a verified X account with 3,619 followers, posted the video. The X user claimed that it was a trailer-loaded terrorists in Imo State. The caption reads, “Fulani Terrorists were dropped in Trailer loads today in Mbaise, Imo State”.
The viral claim attracted over 1M, 1561 reposts, 280 quotes, and 1797 views.
The viral video show the suspected criminals with locally-made guns, cutlasses, hunting sticks including clothes and other ammunition.
In the 45-second clip, some group of men surrounded the suspected criminals who were all seated on the ground. The audio in the video was not clear as there was too much noise in the background.
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Another X user, @Nwaadaz, posted the same video on January 5, 2023 with the caption, “Fulani Terrorists caught today in Mbaise in Imo State”.
The post has garnered over 3,088 views, 36 reposts, 2 quotes, and 68 views as of press time.
CLAIM
Video Shows Fulani-Terrorists Arrested In Mbaise LGA of Imo State.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by WikkiTimes show that the claim is MISLEADING
WikkiTimes subjected the keyframes from the video to TinEye analysis which stated that no images matched your search image.
When contacted, Imo State Police Spokesman, Henry Okoye told WikkiTimes that he has is not ware of the incident.
“I’m not aware of that. If there is any thing like that, I have not heard about it”, he told WikkiTimes on a Telephone call.
To further verify the claim, WikkiTimes conducted a keyboard search and found that Delta Police Spokesman, DSP Bright Edafe dismissed the viral video on his verified X account, saying that the arrested suspects were hunters, not Fulanis.
Edafe’s tweet reads, “May God forgive peddlers of fake news. These were hunters intercepted in Agbor Delta State. After profiling them. We discovered they were indeed hunters. Here you are saying the direct opposite, even saying it happened in Imo State. I repeat, “May God forgive you”.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Fulani-Terrorists arrested in Mbaise of Imo State is misleading; findings show that the paraded suspects were hunters that Police command in Delta arrested and profiled in Agbor in Delta State.
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