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Introduction
The escalating insecurity in Nigeria in recent times, which has amounted to outrageous abductions and killings by terrorists, has brought about thoughts of citizens bearing arms for self-defence.
It is now commonly believed that security agents do not have what it takes to protect the people, hence the call for self-defence.
The insecurity ravaging the country cuts across the regions; terrorists are on an endless rampage in the north and in the south, kidnappings for ransom by suspected herders have become the order of the day.
Elections are approaching, and politicians are currently focused on politics. This has made the citizens believe that there is a need for them, especially those in the rural areas, to stand up for themselves and defeat insecurity.
Claim
An X user, @CrownprinceCom2, has narrated a story of how youths in an Abia community rescued two girls and apprehended suspected kidnappers.
Attaching a photo of the arrested kidnappers and the rescued girls, the X user claimed that “terrorists from Ohaofia kidnapped two young girls and demanded ₦20 million ransom, ₦10 million for each of them.
“The youths of Ohaofia did not wait for the governor. They did not wait for politicians. They did not wait for anybody. They organised themselves, went into the bush, rescued their two sisters, and apprehended the kidnappers.”
Ohafia is an ancient town and local government area in Abia State, Nigeria’s South-east.
With over 48k views and hundreds of reposts, comments under the post suggested that many people believed the story was true.
This was also circulated on Facebook here.
Verification
First, no credible reports or reputable news organisation in Nigeria confirmed that the incident occurred recently.
There is also no press statement from the government or police authorities recently, regarding the claim.
When FACTWATCH Nigeria subjected the image attached to the claim, to AI detection tools, results showed that the photo was AI-generated.
Results from AI detection tools like Sight Engine, Hive Moderation and ZeroGPT indicated that the picture was AI-generated.
Also, a closer look at the image, this fact checker observed that the arrested kidnappers look alike.
Finally, the story lacked critical details such as the particular community in Ohaofia Local Government Area of Abia State, where the incident occurred.
It also lacked the date of the incident and the names or the ethnic group of the suspected kidnappers.
Verdict
Findings could not point to concrete evidence that confirms this claim to be true. Therefore, this claim is FALSE.
Credit: FACTWATCH Nigeria
