By Amarachukwu Callistus
CLAIM:
A trending video trending on WhatsApp has claimed that bandits are inside the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).
VERDICT:
Misleading! Investigation reveals that the video is old and unrelated to the university.
FULL TEXT:
On Wednesday, 10th June, 2026, a video was circulated on WhatsApp. The originator’s clip which was later reshared across the platform multiple times claimed that bandits are currently operating inside UNN.
The viral video was tagged with a caption that carried: “Bandits are now inside UNN, if you are in Nsukka be very vigilant and stay safe out there, as you can see on the video this morning you can still save your friends and your loved ones. Ndi NSK, it is time to bring out your charms with full force, what happened to dropping achi-ere on the roads for these MF’s?”
Recall that during a televised speech delivered on Nigeria’s June 12 Democracy Day, President Bola Tinubu disclosed that the country has neutralised 13,000 terrorists since he assumed power in 2023. Meanwhile, the 2026 Global Index Report released in March ranked Nigeria fourth among the leading terror hotspots, with 750 people killed in 2025, a figure equivalent to 46 percent increment as recorded in 2024. With the growing concern of insecurities dominating headlines, the perpetrators of disinformation have been cashing out on the emotion of the concerned and agitated Nigerians to promote false narratives.
In order to combat false narrative and save the public from the outcomes of unverified information, this reporter conducted this investigation to set the record straight.
A screenshot portion of the video retrieved from Tiktok. Credit: Amarachukwu Callistus, Unizik Campus Journalists
VERIFICATION:
This reportersubjected the screenshot portions of the video to Reverse Image Search, and results from Google Lens, an online verification tool, led us to a similar video on Tiktok posted by @ameboofilorin as dated back to 8th June, 2026. The results further revealed that the video is traced to Mali, another West African country besieged by militants and insurgency. Also, the dialects used to communicate by the people in the video are unrelated with any Nigerian language. However, the video used to portray UNN was muted, supported by a caption that emphasised on the presence of bandits in the area.
Furthermore, the management of UNN had debunked the viral claim of imminent attacks on Nsukka’s campus and abduction of the students. This was revealed according to the information shared with Premium Times, a leading investigative media platform in Nigeria.
CONCLUSION
The claim that bandits are “now in Nsukka” is false and misleading. Investigation by this reporter revealed that the viral video has been online predating the period it was recirculated to depict an incident in Nigeria. Additional findings have shown that the university’s management had debunked the claim.
This report was published under Muneer Yakub’s NACJ-UDUS Next-Gen Fact-check and OSINT Fellowship
