Yunusa Umar
A video showing a helicopter landing in a thick forest and supplying arms to alleged terrorists surfaced on X. The viral video was shared with the claim that the Nigerian government supplies food and ammunition to Boko Haram terrorists and Turji, a kingpin leader.
On September 4, 2024, a verified X user, @EXPOPE1 with 40,100 followers posted the video with a caption that suggested the Nigerian government was supplying food and ammunition to Turji and members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram sect. He further claimed that terrorists are being sponsored, sheltered and armed by the Nigerian government.
The post has garnered about 2,000 views, 2 comments, 29 reposts and quotes, 19 likes and one bookmark as of the time this report was published. The two X users who commented under the claim shared their concern about the state of Nigeria’s security. @Hassanpeace11 commented saying, “This is sad” while @_Wildwillo commented that, “ If this is not aiding terrorism, I don’t know what it is shameless and wicked leaders”
Due to the footage getting more traction on X and a recent incident where notorious Nigerian terrorist and bandit leader, Bello Turji’s militant gangs seized some Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, MRAPs, from the Nigerian army, NV-A decided to fact-check this claim.
VERIFICATION
When NV-A subjected keyframes of the footage to Google Lens, this fact-checker did not come across any related details showing the location where the incident happened.
A closer look at the helicopter featured in the video and comparing it to the Nigerian military helicopter fleet revealed that the white coloured helicopter is not synonymous with the Nigerian military and the ones painted in white usually have thick double green stripes around it, like the presidential helicopter fleet.
Further search revealed that HumAngle, a reputable news platform focused on Africa’s conflict, humanitarian, and development issues, had on December 23, 2021, debunked the viral clip that the video showing supply of ammunition is from Central African not Nigeria.
According to a statement by the conservation nonprofit organisation, African Parks, the video circulating showed the organisation’s helicopter conducting a routine resupply mission on December 4, in Chinko, Central African Republic.
Further, France 24 Observers, a French outlet, had also debunked the claim in 2021.
“After a joint investigation with BenbereVerif , a fact-checking body in Mali, this logo was identified: it is that of “African Parks”, a non-governmental organization focused on nature conservation based in South Africa, but which administers 19 parks throughout the African continent. This logo is found on images of similar helicopters available on social networks”, the France 24 Observers’ fact-check confirmed.
CONCLUSION
The claim is FALSE. The video shared to support the claim is misleading and not from Nigeria. Our findings revealed that the video emanated from the Central African Republic, where a non-governmental organisation focused on nature conservation was transporting transhumance sensitisation teams and their supplies within the park, not ammunition as claimed
