BY: ‘Kunle Adebajo
Discussion forums like Nigeria’s Nairaland have quietly emerged as a significant medium for foreign influence operations.
Nairaland, an internet forum popular among Nigerians, is playing host to geopolitical information wars. Multiple accounts on the platform are preoccupied with sharing propaganda favouring particular foreign interests and discrediting others. We identified up to 20 users consistently pushing propaganda for or against countries such as Iran, Israel, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.
A Nigerian entrepreneur founded Nairaland in March 2005. While it now competes with many other social media platforms, it remains one of the top 20 most visited websites in Nigeria.
Anyone can visit the platform and view most of its content, but only registered users can engage with or create posts. Nairaland relies on a group of content moderators to enforce its guidelines on various sub-forums and determine which posts are featured on the home page, where they are guaranteed to get more visibility. Featured posts on the homepage typically attract views ranging in the tens of thousands. Most Nairaland users use fictitious names to protect their identities.
A screenshot of Nairaland’s landing page showing the various sub-forums and some of the featured posts from 11 April 2025. Please, note that most of the data collected for this analysis was up to January 2025.
Tactics, meta-narratives, and coordination
Nairaland’s popularity and accessibility make it an effective platform for sharing information in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. However, its anonymity and lax content moderation have made it a breeding ground for disinformation and hate speech, with some users criticising it as a hub for ethnic and religious bigotry.
The perpetuation of one-sided foreign propaganda on the platform often coincides with major global conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the Israeli invasion of Gaza in reaction to the Hamas attack in October 2023.
The most common approach the accounts have adopted is sharing news reports that fit or can be interpreted to suit a political agenda, often emboldening the parts they want people to pay attention to. The reports are usually copied from reputable international news outlets or platforms with an obvious geopolitical bias. Other times, the accounts focus on contributing to conversations, debating with other users, or echoing certain narratives posted on the website.
While some accounts begin posting foreign propaganda as soon as they join the website, others start by contributing to a wide range of sub-forums, as is the typical practice, before suddenly shifting to pushing influence operations. The agenda the accounts wish to spread is sometimes clear from their opinionated original posts. Other times, it can be deduced from the pattern of their commentary and uploads.
Based on the Disinformation Analysis and Risk Management (DISARM) framework used for monitoring and addressing harmful narratives, the tactics these accounts adopt include distorting facts, using pseudonyms, creating clickbait, directing users to alternate platforms such as Telegram and YouTube, and encouraging physical violence.
The accounts often:
- Paint one group in an international conflict as aggressors and the other group as victims.
- Amplify attacks by one group as a celebration of victory or report attacks by the other group to draw attention to perceived injustice (such as violations of international humanitarian law) or present them as provocation capable of escalating conflict.
- Amplify news reports that portray one side as strong, battle-ready, and generous, while portraying the other as weak and laughable.
- Present one side as fighting to make the world better, or because they have scriptural backing.
- Spread disinformation about geopolitical events or twist facts to suit one side in a conflict.
- Accuse reputable media platforms of spreading disinformation.
While some of the accounts appear to be operating alone, others apparently collaborated with each other to reacher more audiences and lend credence to their narratives. The signs of coordination include accounts with similar ideologies leaving comments on each other’s posts within minutes of publication, affiliations between accounts with similar usernames, stark similarities in content posted, and closeness in dates of registration.
For example, these three pro-Israeli accounts with similar usernames – Holiness2100, Righteousness2, and Uprightness100 – regularly leave comments on each other’s posts, often within minutes of publishing, praising Israel and condemning the country’s perceived enemies.
Some pro-Russia accounts – Kingsnairaland, Betscoreodds, Nancy2020, and Nancy1986 – use the same tactic. At least two dozen times, Betscoreodds amplified posts by Kingsnairaland by being one of the first users to comment on them. The account typically posted these comments within minutes of the original articles appearing on the platform – sometimes, within a minute. Kingsnairaland has returned the favour several times. Nancy2020 and Nancy1986 amplify posts from the first two accounts using the same method.
The tactics Kingsnairaland and Betscoreodds use are also identical. They both share similar screenshots of news reports posted on Facebook, alongside comments from the social media platform, and they both regularly proclaim, ‘God bless Putin, God bless Russia’. In mid-2022, the two accounts started promoting a Telegram channel called ‘Russia TV Africa’, where users could watch referenced videos. An individual named John Joseph, with the username @ovotogbe, created the channel in March 2022 and used it to share propaganda videos about the Russia-Ukraine conflict from RT and other sources.
We see coordination, too, in how this account, Writernig, has made at least 11 copies of itself – WritterNg, WriiterNg, WrriterNg, WriteerNig, WriterrNig, WritterNig, WriiterNig, WrriterNig, WriterNigg, WriterNiiig, and WriterNiig – all pushing pro-Russia narratives.
Israel vs Palestine: Actors and narratives
One-sided narratives around hostilities between Israel and other countries in the Middle East go as far back as 2021 on Nairaland. They often focused on strained relations between Iran and Israel as well as conversations about Arab-Israeli normalisation (i.e. Arab countries signing peace and normalisation treaties with Israel as a pathway to restoring diplomatic relations). This was until October 2023, when Israel began a months-long bombardment of the occupied Palestinian territory following a grave Hamas attack.
One of the Nairaland accounts consistently pushing pro-Israel narratives is Elusive001. It joined the platform on 20 February 2024 and has remained active since. The account started by posting topics related to Nigeria’s politics and economic situation until September 2024. Between this time and 21 January 2025, a quarter of its posts related to events in Nigeria and other topics. The remaining 22 posts focused on international politics, especially events in the Middle East that concern Israel. Sixteen of these posts were pro-Israel, eight were anti-Iran, four were against the Lebanese political and military group Hezbollah, three were against the Yemeni armed organisation, Houthi, and three were anti-Palestine.
The account frequently posted news articles from the Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post, and occasionally shared reports from CNN, IranWire, Reuters, The Telegraph, and the Israeli news website YNet News. Through these posts, it amplified reports about:
- Israel’s military accomplishments, such as intercepting a missile from Yemen, raiding an Iranian missile factory, and striking a Hezbollah target.
- Israel’s warnings to Hezbollah, Houthis, and Iran.
- Iran’s hostility to Afghan refugees.
- Calls for new Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
- The United Kingdom conservative party’s choice of pro-Israel politician Kemi Badenoch to lead it.
- A request from residents of a southern Syrian community to become a part of Israel, etc.
The account’s bias shone through some of the follow-up comments it posted under these articles. For example, when it posted about the Syrian community asking for Israeli rule, it wrote, ‘Where are those propagandists saying that Israel is killing Christians in Syria? Come and see the same Christians you started loving suddenly, asking for Israeli rule.’ Another time, it wrote about the Houthi rebels, saying, ‘They are at it again. Their supporters won’t call them to order. UN is quiet now. Very soon they will pollute the world with “free Yemen”, “Israel is committing genocide”.’
Other apparently pro-Israel accounts on the platform include Botragelad, Holiness2100, and Righteousness2.
The Botragelad account previously had a picture of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel on its profile page. It celebrates IDF military operations, the destruction of Gaza, attacks on Hamas leaders, and attacks on Iran. It amplified Israeli propaganda that had been debunked, such as claims of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza serving as a command centre for Hamas, or that the Palestinian people are occupiers from Jordan, Egypt, and other places. It also repeatedly makes statements confirming its bias, such as ‘Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱!’ [a Hebrew phrase translating to ‘The people of Israel live’], ‘Ride on Israel. Victory is yours!’, and ‘Slava Ukraine🇺🇦!’
A screenshot of Botragelad’s profile page taken on 06 January 2025, featuring a picture of the IDF special forces (Source: CfA via Nairaland)
The Holiness2100 account started posting pro-Israel topics in November 2023, devoting itself to this endeavour. It shares news articles that amplify praises for Israel, statements from Israeli authorities, and voices opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, and diminishes the reputations of countries such as Iran and groups like Hamas.
A screenshot of Holiness2100’s profile page (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
The Uprightness100 account, which joined the platform in September 2020, amplified reports painting Iran as a threat to global security, reports of Israeli attacks against Hamas, reports indicating Israel’s disinterest in a ceasefire, and so on. It sourced its content from outlets including Deutsche Welle, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, and United with Israel.
A screenshot of Uprightness100’s profile page. On 02 January 2023, the account created a post titled ‘World News! Events Happening Around The World’, where it continued pushing its pro-Israel, anti-Palestine, and anti-Iran propaganda. The post has been viewed over 485,000 times. (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
On the other hand, the consistently anti-Israeli accounts on Nairaland include Biodun556, CoronaVirusPro, and TruthU87.
TruthU87 registered on the platform in May 2024 and started sharing one-sided narratives almost immediately. Between 22 May 2024 and 26 January 2025, the account made 38 posts, 92% of which had anti-Israel sentiment, 53% were pro-Palestine, and others were anti-US, pro-Iran, pro-Houthi, pro-Hezbollah, or anti-Ukraine. These posts received 688,000 views and 5,468 comments.
The account shared publications from diverse sources, including the Associated Press, CNN, Middle East Eye, Pakistan Tribune, Reuters, the Islam Channel, The Jerusalem Post, The Telegraph, the Times of Israel, and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) World. It also shared posts from X influencers such as @AdameMedia, @AryJeay, @GazaMartyrs, @IrIrand_Military, @stairwayto3dom, @TimesofGaza, and @VidgyaG – whose posts are typically anti-Israel, anti-West/US, pro-Palestine, and pro-Iran.
The account’s narratives focused on:
- The civilian casualties of Israeli airstrikes and attacks in Palestine and Lebanon.
- Israeli forces’ violations of international humanitarian law.
- International support for Palestine and criticisms against Israel.
- Allegations of racism against black people in Israel.
- Adversities Israeli military personnel suffer.
- Both successful and planned attacks against Israel, etc.
TruthU87’s bias is especially reflected when the account shares information about the adversities Israeli military personnel suffer. Under one post published on 30 June 2024 – about how 70,000 Israeli soldiers suffered from physical injuries and mental illnesses – the account celebrated the death of a ‘female Zionist [who] signed up to fight for the baby-killing army’. Months later, in October 2024, it wrote ‘no peace for the wicked’, in reaction to the news of an Israeli soldier dying by suicide.
Starting in April 2024, the focus of Biodun556’s contributions to Nairaland shifted to Israel. The account started amplifying Iran’s attacks against Israel and praising the former’s military capacities, underplaying Israeli attacks on Iran, praising Iran-backed armed groups such as the Hezbollah and Houthi rebels, and so on. It sources its news from platforms including A News, Hindustan Times, Sky News, TheCradle, and TRT World.
Sometimes, it publishes its opinion without quoting news outlets. On 01 October 2024, for example, it posted, ‘Iran is a formidable force unlike Hamas and hisbullah who are just militants. If Israel decides to continue escalation with Iran, the 60% of Israeles who were from diaspora will run back to their countries and the pseudo state of Israel will depopulated. Hamas rockets has [sic] already scared 500,000 out of Israel. How much more of Iranian missiles that does [sic] not miss target’.
A screenshot of Biodun556’s profile page (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
Another anti-Israel account on Nairaland is CoronaVirusPro, registered on the platform on 23 March 2020. It has posted 25 topics since, 72% of them in the ‘Foreign Affairs’ section. Its bias is not immediately obvious, looking merely at these posts. However, the bias becomes evident in the replies. The account has made more than 8,800 comments on various topics on the website, averaging about five comments a day since it joined. Its contributions to international issues and debates with other users betray a bias towards Iran and Palestine and against Israel, Ukraine, and the US. It comments the phrases ‘fvck Israel’ and ‘fuck Netanyahu’ using bold letters frequently. It also often cusses out Saudi Arabia and Trump.
A screenshot of CoronaVirusPro’s account profile page, showing how it throws the phrase ‘fvck Israel’ in as many places as possible (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
Russia vs Ukraine: Actors and narratives
Another prominent propaganda campaign on Nairaland revolves around the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The two countries have been at war since 2014, when Ukrainians ousted their pro-Kremlin president, Viktor Yanukovych, and Russia invaded and annexed Crimea. In February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine in a bid to prevent the latter from joining the Western-led military alliance, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In the build-up to and following this invasion, a volcano of pro-Russian propaganda erupted around the world, including in Nigeria’s information ecosystem. On Nairaland, pro-Ukraine accounts are pushing back, using similar tactics as the pro-Russia ones.
The accounts pushing pro-Russian propaganda include Betscoreodds, Dalil8, Ken6488, Kingsnairaland, Nancy2020, and Writernig.
When Kingsnairaland joined the platform in June 2021, it created posts that bordered on religion, health, and happenings within Nigeria. From 25 February 2022, a day after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it started posting almost exclusively about the war between the two countries – sharing screenshots of news articles and often pro-Russian comments from Facebook. It maintained this pattern until September 2023, after which it returned to posting about a wide range of issues, with a focus on crime, religion, and political events within Nigeria.
The sources of its articles are diverse. They include: A News, Al Arabiya News, Daily Mail, Daily Wire, France24, Middle East Monitor, New York Times, Reuters, RT (formerly Russia Today), South China Morning Post, TASS, TFI Global, The Moscow Times, WION, Xinhua News, and so on. Sourcing some of its news from predominantly Western publications may be a deliberate attempt to dress its claims in a toga of credibility. When another user accused the account of sharing disinformation in June 2022, it replied: ‘My topic is from Western news. I did not write it. You can check it out, the link is there.’
Out of the 241 articles the account published between 04 June 2021 and 01 January 2025, approximately 66% were pro-Russia, 41% anti-Ukraine, 19.5% anti-US, 5.4% anti-Europe, 4.6% anti-NATO, 3.3% anti-UK, and a few others were anti-France and anti-Israel. Altogether, these posts received more than 475,000 views and 6,142 replies.
The account’s mode of operation also includes posting propaganda videos on video-sharing platforms, including Odysee, Rumble, and YouTube, and embedding their links in various Nairaland posts.
What are the kinds of narratives pushed by the account? That:
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine is justified.
- Russia has great military strength and launched many successful attacks on Ukraine’s armed forces.
- Allies of Russia, such as China and North Korea, have great military strength.
- Ukraine is weak, as reflected in cases of surrender by its military forces, and relies on support from other countries.
- Russia easily overpowers the foreign support Ukraine receives, including arms and soldiers. Also, many of the weapons other countries give Ukraine are deficient.
- Russian president Vladimir Putin is popular among the people of his country, the annexed region of Crimea, and even Ukraine.
- NATO countries are weak and afraid of Russia. On the contrary, Russia is thriving and able to trade internationally, despite the sanctions against it.
- International media organisations based in the West are spreading disinformation on Russia.
- European countries and the US are facing economic challenges as a result of the war.
- Ukraine is indecisive about joining NATO due to pressure from Russia and is desperate for international support.
- The US was developing biological weapons in Ukraine.
- Former US president Joe Biden is weak.
How the account titles its posts often betrays its bias. For example, in one post, it wrote ‘Dashcam video shows Putin’s bombs raining down on Ukrainian tower block’ and in another instance, it described Russian airstrikes as ‘beautiful to behold’. Besides sharing such narratives, the account also professes staunch support for Russia in the comments it makes after the main posts. It repeatedly concludes many of such comments with the phrase, ‘God bless Putin. God bless Mother Russia.’ It declared on 12 April 2022, ‘Russia is the current greatest force in the world. Putin will bring evil NATO to it[s] knees. God bless Putin; God bless mother Russia.’
The Writernig account is one of the most prolific pro-Russia accounts on Nairaland because of its high level of syndication and posting frequency. It is also one of the most visible, as most of its posts tend to attract tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments. With its syndicate of 12 accounts, it had post 696 posts and 35,895 comments as of February 2025.
The account started posting Russian propaganda and with significantly greater frequency on 16 February 2022, about a week before the invasion of Ukraine. It started with this post, where it cited the Russian ministry of foreign affairs as its source, writing, ‘Russia Mocks U.S, Biden & The West Over “Fake” Claims Of Ukraine Invasion (Pics).’ The bulk of the posts that followed pertained to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Since then, the account has obsessively posted Russian propaganda, including promoting an image of Malian soldiers mocking Western politicians, discrediting the US, as well as flattering and aggrandising Russia. ‘Like for Russia-Putin, share for USA/Nazi/NATO 卍,’ the account commented on some of its posts.
A screenshot of WriterNig’s profile on Nairaland, also showing the account’s alternate usernames (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
Meanwhile, some of the pro-Ukraine accounts on Nairaland are Slavaukraini, Redscorpion, and Nigeriazoo.
The Slavaukraini account was registered on 07 June 2022, less than four months after Russia’s invasion. Its username is a Ukranian expression meaning ‘glory to Ukraine’, which is the battle cry of the country’s armed forces. It made 16 publications between this time and November 2024, 10 of which were about the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These posts amplified Ukraine’s military achievements and reported the support it received from other countries. ‘Russian troops and journalists were forced to flee from a Ukrainian attack – just seconds after launching their own,’ it reported in June 2022. Besides the posts, the account has left more than 3,300 comments on various posts on the platform, revealing it to be loudly pro-Israel as well.
Screenshot of SlavaUkraini’s profile page (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
Another anti-Russia account is Redscorpion, registered on the platform in November 2020. In April 2022, it started consistently posting news articles undermining Russia, often inserting opinionated statements such as those accusing the country of telling ‘so many lies’ or referring to it as the ‘enemies’. The news it amplified included Russia’s military and economic losses, Canada supporting Sweden and Finland to join NATO, and allegations of Russian personnel using rape as a weapon of war. ‘Below are few videos of serious Russian Military Casualties that they have suffered at the hands of the Ukrainian military that the Kremlin Propaganda machine would not like the world to see,’ it said in one post.
On 16 February 2022, a week before the invasion of Ukraine, the Nigeriazoo suddenly started posting almost exclusively in the ‘foreign affairs’ section. It became inactive a month later, on 21 March 2022. It spent its last month on the platform disparaging Russia, echoing its losses, celebrating Ukraine’s military accomplishments, amplifying statements and sanctions made against Russia, and heaping praises on NATO. The account wrote in a post on 16 March 2022, ‘Putin does not have the balls to invade NATO states because we have only two scenarios. 1. Obliteration of the weak overrated Russian army. 2. Nuclear war (we all die).’
Disinformation and Twisted Headlines
In pushing their propaganda, many of the identified Nairaland accounts also spread disinformation or twist facts to suit their agendas.
On 01 January 2025, while sharing news about the removal of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prostate due to a ‘benign prostate enlargement’, TruthU87 wrote a post with a headline that Netanyahu had ‘prostate cancer’. ‘May cancer or worse afflict Zionists and all their supporters,’ he further commented.
The Kingsnairaland account has often resorted to disinformation and exaggeration in its bid to push pro-Russia propaganda. In May 2022, it claimed that ‘Ukrainian armies have been committing genocide in Donbass with the help of the west’. While often repeated by Russian sources to justify military action, this claim is baseless. In the same month, the account shared a video, claiming that it showed Russia destroying a NATO jet fighter and helicopter sent to help Ukraine. Checks showed that the clip is actually from a simulation-based video game, ARMA 3. This disinformation tactic is not uncommon during warfare. On 27 August 2023, the account shared another video, claiming that France was destroying its vehicles before leaving Burkina Faso, after the West African country expelled French forces. The account further claimed that France’s action was a reflection of how Putin had outsmarted Biden. The post received more than 3,700 views. A fact-check by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency had, however, established that the vehicles belonged to a Canadian mining company that was liquidated due to floods. The fact-check added that the floods had destroyed the vehicles, leaving them ‘unfit for use’.
A screenshot of Kingsnairaland’s post claiming that France destroyed its vehicles before leaving Burkina Faso (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
Another tactic Kingsnairaland, alongside the associated account, Betscoreodds, frequently uses is distorting the headlines of the news articles it posts to convey a different notion, such as making Russia appear more powerful or its enemies appear weaker. For example, it changed the following:
- From ‘In nod to Russia, Ukraine says no longer insisting on NATO membership’ to ‘Ukraine Zelensky breaks down, confesses he no longer wants to join NATO’.
- From ‘NATO could take out Russia in 3 days: congressman’ to ‘NATO could take out Russia in 3 days: congressman that is a clown’.
- From ‘Biden is open to talks with Putin if he is serious about ending the war’ to ‘Biden is open to beg Putin if he’s serious about ending the war’.
- From ‘US informed Russia of Joe Biden’s Kyiv visit hours before departure’ to ‘Biden visit Ukraine with Putin permission’.
- From ‘BBC suspends reporting in Russia after new law’ to ‘BBC admit to spreading fake news in Russia’.
Similarly, Kingsnairaland twists the facts of news reports to suit its agenda. In April 2022, it shared a news article about a Russian rocket strike on a railway station in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. It claimed that the victims of the strike were Ukrainian soldiers who were fleeing, though the original report did not say this. ‘Top military Ukraine men tried to run from the city through helicopter but all was brought down now they tried to escape through train and Russia hit them hard. God bless Putin God bless mother Russia,’ the account wrote. However, the Kremlin, distanced itself from the attack when it emerged that the 63 victims, including nine children, were civilians. Also, in August 2022, the account posted a news article using the headline ‘UK Lawyers And Railway Workers On Strike Due To Russia Sanctions On The Nation’. However, the article referenced does not mention Russia.
On 25 March 2022, Betscoreodds made a post titled ‘USA Fake News Uses Residence Evil Movie Photo To Say It Is Ukraine Burning’, referring to a post by American news outlet ABC News. ‘The western propaganda machine. Imagine using a movie clip photo up [sic] to claim it is Ukraine burning. Welcome to USA world of lies,’ the account wrote. The only proof it presented for this claim was a Facebook comment that said, ‘This [the photo] was taken from Residence Evil.’ This claim is false. AFP photographer Fadel Senna took the original picture, which shows ‘a man [walking] near a burning warehouse hit by a Russian shell in the suburbs of Kyiv in 2022.’
Another example of disinformation can be seen in an April 2024 post by Biodun556. The account claimed that Israel had hidden the impact of an Iranian missile attack on its air force base, attaching screenshots from a TikTok video. A fact-check by AFP, however, found this claim to be false. The video is a merger of two old clips ‘of warplanes at American and Kuwaiti bases’.
A screenshot of the false claim Biodun posted on 14 April 2024 (Source: CfA through Nairaland)
The closed nature of Nairaland means many journalists are not paying attention to the false information that is spread there, leading many such claims to circulate without being fact-checked. Many of the platform’s users are also likely unaware that some of the content shared there is inauthentic and possibly sponsored by foreign interests. This makes it easier for the malign actors to achieve their goals of shaping public opinion without much scrutiny.
‘To check the spread of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), you first need to recognise it is FIMI, which is something many people are not trained to recognise,’ observes Journalist and disinformation researcher ‘Mayowa Tijani.
‘People are just innocently useful idiots – they think they are doing what is right, not recognising they are advancing the cause of a FIMI actor. So the first solution is FIMI literacy. But that then leaves me with a question: Who is teaching FIMI literacy to the ordinary Nigerian today?’
A version of this article was originally published by Code for Africa.
