FACT-CHECK: Were Nigerian soldiers captured and bundled onto a motorcycle by terrorists?
Claim: A viral video posted on YouTube and widely shared across Facebook, X, WhatsApp groups, and other social media platforms in June 2025, shows uniformed military personnel captured and transported on motorcycles by armed militants.
The video is timestamped “8‑6‑25” (June 8, 2025) and is captioned: “Nigerian Soldiers Carted Away With Bikes By Terrorists.”
In the footage, several men in military fatigues are seen bound and seated on motorcycles, surrounded by gunmen believed to be bandits or insurgents. The clip has sparked widespread outrage, with many commentators calling it a national embarrassment and questioning the competence of the armed forces.
Texts accompanying the video include:
“What an insult and disgrace to our military. Being captured like rabbits and bundled into bikes by bandits. So disgraceful and pathetic!”
The video has generated heated public reactions, sparking outrage, fear, and criticism directed at the Nigerian Armed Forces. Many users attributed the footage to recent attacks by insurgents in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Northwest and North-Central regions continue to experience escalating insecurity from armed bandits and terrorist-affiliated groups. While the Nigerian military has undertaken operations that resulted in successes against non-state actors, disinformation and propaganda remain rampant during or after attacks.
Verification: To verify the authenticity of the viral video, PRNigeria Fact-Check Desk investigated the likely geographical origin of the video. The process involved a technical and contextual review that included visual analysis of military uniforms and insignia, a linguistic assessment of the spoken audio, consultations with military experts and independent observers, and cross-referencing with official sources and media reports.
Findings revealed that the frame fragment of the video began circulating widely on June 8, 2025, initially gaining traction on WhatsApp groups and Facebook.
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Upon conducting a frame-by-frame review, it became evident that the military uniforms in the video do not align with those used by the Nigerian Army. Additionally, the soldiers’ uniforms notably lack identifying shoulder badges such as the “NA” or unit codes that are standard features on official Nigerian military attire.
The linguistic analysis of the background audio revealed that neither Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, English, nor Nigerian Pidgin was spoken, languages typically used by Nigerian troops. Instead, French and local francophone dialects were faintly discernible, indicating that the video likely originated from a non-Nigerian, West African context.
Similarly, at the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Army had not issued any official statement on their social media platforms or website confirming or refuting the nationality of the soldiers shown in the footage.
Additionally, no credible Nigerian news outlet has reported a recent incident involving the capture of Nigerian soldiers resembling the scene depicted in the video. The Nigerian Army’s official website and verified social media handles make no mention of such an incident either.
However, some media reports claimed that the troops were captured in Mali by JNIM militants, referencing a recent attack in the Boulkessi region. The insignia and other visual cues in the video more closely match those of Malian or Beninese forces, not the Nigerian Army.
Further investigation revealed that in March 2025, the Nigerian Army debunked a viral video falsely claiming a shooting in Northern Nigeria. The footage was confirmed to be from Burkina Faso, involving the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) terrorist groups.
Conclusion: Based on available visual, linguistic, and contextual evidence, the soldiers in the video are not Nigerian troops. The camouflage design, absence of NA insignia, and the language heard in the background strongly suggest that the individuals are from a francophone West African military.
Verdict: The claim that the viral video shows Nigerian soldiers captured by terrorists MISLEADING.
By PRNigeria
