Fact-Check: Was Slain Lt Col AH Ali, the Army Personnel Preaching about death in Viral Video? 

Fact-Check: Was Slain Lt Col AH Ali, the Army Personnel Preaching about death in Viral Video? 

Claim: A Social Media post, mostly on WhatsApp and facebook emerged claiming that late Lt Col AH Ali was interviewed under a tree prior to the attack on his battalion that led to his untimely death in Delta State.

The claim has been massively circulated and reposted on various social media ecosystems. 

Full-text: The caption of the post containing the claim reads, “This is Lt Col AH Ali the Commanding Officer that was gruesomely killed in Delta State…”

Lt. Col. AH Ali, the commanding officer of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, along with 21 soldiers, were tragically killed by an armed group during a peace mission in the Okuama community.The military personnel were in the area as part of measures to settle a land dispute between Okuama and a neighbouring community of Okoloba in Delta State

When questioned about why he sits under the tree to reflect on life, he responded by saying that he was always worried about how people go about their lives while they sacrifice the lives of people on a daily basis, forgetting about how they will eventually die. He also talked about death that may come at anytime, any day at any location that is not known before hand by its victims. 

Verification: PRNigeria conducted a reverse image search and results revealed that the video in question was first published on X formerly known as Twitter. 

Reacting, former President Buhari’s Personal Assistant on new media, Bashir Ahmad offered prayers for the repose of Lt. Col. AH Ali. 

Disagreeably, an X user commented, “Is like you guys don’t know what it takes to be a lieutenant colonel in the army it takes roughly 16 years to be lieutenant colonel and look at the guy in this video 1, 2, lieutenant colonel is mostly a commanding officer leading a military battalion with troops” 

Another user, Mimiko_Jnr mentioned, “This is not Lt Col AH Ali. Stop spreading false information” 

Furthermore, PRNigeria downloaded and conducted a comparison between the soldier interviewed under a tree and the late Lt Col AH Ali’s image. 

It revealed that while the soldier in the video had a darker skin tone, Lt Col Ali’s skin tone although dark, seem to be a little lighter than that of the soldier in the video. Similarly, whle their overall face shape is almost similar, the late Lt Col had a higher forehead with a ticker eyebrow while the forehead of the soldier in the video was sloped with a lighter eyebrow. Also, the late Lt Col Ali had a full lips with a brief moustache while the soldier in the video had a wide lips with curved moustache.  

Additionally, PRNigeria noted that the soldier in the footage appeared younger than the late Lt Col AH Ali. 

Publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar in a Facebook post clarified that he sent the clip to a friend of the late Lt Col Ali who confirmed that indeed the soldier in the video is not him. 

PRNigeria reached out to Senior Defense sources about the man in the video. 

“He is not an officer,…He is a soldier in Northeast,” said the source. 

Conclusion: Based on PRNigeria‘s examination analysis and confirmation from his friend and information from the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), the army personnel being interviewed in the viral video under a tree was a soldier in Northeast and not the slain officer Lt Col AH Ali

PRNigeria therefore concludes that the claim is Misleading.

By PRNigeria