By Rasheed Lateef
A viral video circulating on Facebook which sparked panic across Edo State with an alarming claim that bandits have infiltrated Benin City and surrounded the entire state has been confirmed to be fake and AI generated after DUBAWA Fact-Check.
The video was said to haven been posted on June 4, 2026, and it quickly gained widespread attention, attracting more than two million views, 53,000 likes and 24,000 shares. The narrator in the video calls on the Edo State Government to take urgent action, alleging that bandits have entered the state and pose a major security threat.
In one segment, a man presented as a bandit appears to challenge the Federal Government, saying, “If the federal government thinks they have power, they should come to Benin. We are going to kill anybody who tries to stop us.”
The video also displays footage of armed men standing beside armored tanks, a scene that appears to support the claim of an ongoing invasion.
The post sparked mixed reactions among Facebook users. While some expressed concern about the alleged security threat, others questioned the authenticity of the video.
“Please, how did they get to Edo State?” a Facebook user, Victoria Omeche Onoja, asked in the comment section.
Another user, Haruna Yahaya, doubted the credibility of the audio recording, writing, “This does not sound like a Fulani man’s voice.”
To verify the claim, DUBAWA subjected the video to a series of forensic examinations. Investigators used InVID to extract keyframes from the footage and conducted a reverse image search. The search revealed that the Ekiti State Police Command had previously debunked the same video after individuals circulated it to support false claims about attacks on higher institutions in Ekiti State.
DUBAWA also analyzed the footage with advanced AI-detection tools such as Hive.ai and Deepware.ai which was reported to have assigned a 95.6 percent probability that artificial intelligence generated the video and flagged the content as suspicious and likely manipulated.
Investigators further conducted an Error Level Analysis (ELA), which revealed inconsistent image patches commonly associated with digital editing and manipulation.
DUBAWA also traced the secondary footage showing armed men and armored vehicles to a report that Ripples Nigeria published on June 17, 2025. Contrary to the claim circulating online, the original footage documented a peace and reconciliation engagement involving security personnel and armed groups in Katsina State, more than 700 kilometres from Benin City.
Security agencies and credible local media organizations have not reported any bandit activity surrounding Edo State as of the time the video was generated. Authorities have also not issued any alerts indicating that armed groups have invaded or encircled the state.
DUBAWA urged residents and social media users to verify information through official security channels and credible news sources before sharing content online. The organisation warned that the spread of false information could trigger unnecessary fear and panic among the public.
