Fact-Check: Was the Man Holding Two AK-47 Rifles in the Viral Photo One of the Hausa Hunters Killed in Edo?
Claim: A viral picture shows a man with two AK-47 rifles slung across his shoulders, accompanied by a claim that he is a Fulani hunter traveling from Port Harcourt to Kano.
The image was shared with text questioning Nigeria’s state of affairs and rhetorically asking why hunters would use AK-47 rifles. The post further refers to such hunters as “digital hunters” and concludes with a prayer, saying “it’s well, God dey” (a Nigerian Pidgin expression meaning “there is God”).
The text accompanying the image reads:
“A typical Fulani hunter traveling from PH to Kano with AK-47. What kind of country is this? It’s only in Nigeria that hunters use AK-47 to hunt. They call them digital hunters. It is well o…. God dey.”
This claim is thought to be connected to the recent murder of 16 northerners who were reportedly traveling from Port Harcourt in Rivers State to Kano State, and were killed in Uromi, Edo State.
The victims, said to be hunters, were reportedly on their way to Kano for the Sallah celebration when a mob intercepted and lynched them, suspecting them to be kidnappers.
PRNigeria‘s Fact-check learned that local vigilantes had stopped the vehicle the victims were traveling in. During a search, they found Dane guns commonly used by hunters, which led to the formation of a mob that mistakenly concluded the travelers were kidnappers and burned them alive.
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Verification: In order to verify the claim, PRNigeria conducted a reverse image search using TinEye, a reliable fact-checking tool known for analyzing images and their origins.
The investigation revealed that the image in question actually depicts Boderi Isyaku, a notorious bandit leader, who was killed by security forces in an ambush in Kaduna State in February 2024. The military had confiscated arms and ammunition belonging to the bandits.
Further investigation, including keyword searches, corroborated this finding. Boderi Isyaku was a notorious bandit, allegedly responsible for the kidnapping of 39 students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation and the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna in 2021. He was neutralized, along with several members of his gang.
Conclusion: The viral picture, which was claimed to show a hunter traveling from Port Harcourt to Kano with two rifles, actually depicts bandit kingpin Boderi Isyaku, who was killed by the Nigerian military in February 2024.
Verdict: PRNigeria’s fact-check concludes that the claim that the man in the viral picture is a Fulani hunter traveling from Port Harcourt to Kano is False.
By PRNigeria
