By Abdulbasid Dantsoho
An X user, Daniel Somtochukwu (@Somtolism7), shared a video that was later reposted by another user, Mr Sam (@Amebosam), with the caption:
“A disturbing video of Fulani terrorist dehumanizing and subjecting their victims on all sorts of torture has been surfaced.”
The original post amassed over two million views, while the repost had recorded more than 92,000 views, 48 reposts, 133 likes and dozens of comments as of 25 June 2026.
The video shows a group of shirtless men and women with their hands tied behind their backs walking through a muddy path under armed escort.
The post generated strong reactions. Some users such as Amos.O.T, and Voice Of The Masses accepted the claim as evidence of atrocities allegedly committed by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, while others like Adam Abdulwahab and Olawale Bisiriyu questioned its authenticity and argued that the people in the video did not appear to be Nigerians.
Given Nigeria’s security challenges and longstanding ethnic tensions involving the Fulani community, WikkiTimes verified the claim.
Verification
WikkiTimes extracted keyframes from the viral video using the video verification tool InVID and conducted reverse image searches on multiple frames.
The search traced the footage to an X post published on 16 May 2026 by Congolese user Simaro Ngongo Case @SimaroNgongoMba.
The accompanying French-language caption alleged that the individuals shown were artisanal gold miners arrested in Babukela, in Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The translated caption reads in part:
“Ituri: Tshisekedi plans to kill 103 artisanal gold miners from Kivu in order to seize their mining operations… They were working at the Bukela mining site when they were arrested…”
Although WikkiTimes could not independently verify every allegation contained in the Congolese post, the caption and associated metadata indicate that the footage was circulating in connection with events in eastern DRC weeks before it was falsely attributed to Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria.
Further image analysis found visual similarities between frames extracted from the viral video and images published by a Congolese news platform covering incidents in the region.
In addition, searches across credible international and Nigerian news databases found no reports linking the footage to attacks by Fulani herdsmen or to any incident in Nigeria.
Other misleading uses of the same video
The investigation also found that the same footage has been repeatedly recycled online with conflicting captions.
One X account, NaijaEyes (@naija_eyes), claimed the video showed military recruits undergoing routine training in an unnamed African country.
Another account, Dr Maalouf (@realMaalouf), posted the same footage (archived here) with the claim that it depicted “Arab Muslims enslaving Black African Christians.”
These conflicting narratives demonstrate that the same video has been repeatedly repurposed to support unrelated political, ethnic and religious claims without credible evidence.
Why this matters
False attribution of violent videos can inflame ethnic tensions, reinforce harmful stereotypes and spread misinformation, particularly in Nigeria where insecurity and communal violence remain highly sensitive issues.
Verdict: Misleading.
The claim that the viral video shows Fulani herdsmen torturing victims in Nigeria is entirely false.
Evidence obtained through reverse image searches indicates that the footage predates the social media posts making the claim and was circulating in connection with an incident in the Democratic Republic of Congo. WikkiTimes found no credible evidence linking the video to Fulani herdsmen or to any verified incident in Nigeria.
