FACT-CHECK: Image does not show suspected kidnappers arrested after falling in love with their victim

Claim

Social media users on the X platform and Facebook shared an image of a parade of suspected kidnappers and claimed that they were, arrested after falling in love with their victim in Kaduna.

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING. Findings have shown the image was from 2022 in Taraba State and not Kaduna.

Full Text

Insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria has continued unabated in recent times.

From the northeast to the northwest and then the north central, abductions and killings have become a new normal in these zones.

According to 2025 data sourced from Beacon Consulting, an indigenous firm tracking situations in the country, the North West, North East, and North Central accounted for 79 per cent of the insecurity incidents.

The region has been ravaged by Boko Haram, Islamic State of West African Province, bandits, herders-farmers conflict, and lately, Lakurawa and Mahmuda terrorist groups.

With the threats and support from the United States, it seems like there is no end in sight to the insecurity ravaging the region.

A few days ago, social media was awash with an image of two suspected kidnappers being paraded alongside the claim that they raped and fell in love with their victim before they were arrested by the security operatives.

An X user, Pastor Okezie shared the photo with a caption that reads, “JUST IN: Two Hausa-Fulani kidnappers who fell in love with their victims after raping them have been arrested in Kaduna.

“The two kidnappers raped the two married women in their captivity and the women pretended to be in love with the kidnappers. They even told them they were enjoying it so they exchanged phone numbers with the kidnappers.

“After their release, they kept communicating; On Tuesday, they called the kidnappers for a romantic meeting and the kidnappers obliged.

“On getting to their meeting point, the police who were already informed arrested the two suspects.”

Okezie cited Nasarawa Daily News as his source.

The post by the X user has garnered over 113k views with over 700 likes and more than 100 reposts, according to X analytics.

FACTWATCH Nigeria also observed that the claim had been spread to many Facebook pages as of 18 January.

Verifying the claim

FACTWATCH Nigeria first subjected the image to Google Image Reverse Search and found out that it was posted online in June 2022.

The official Facebook page of the Nigerian Police shared the image in June 2022, alongside other recovered weapons and ammunition from the suspects, with a statement.

According to the immediate police spokesperson in Nigeria, Adejobi Olumuyiwa, the incident occurred in Taraba State, Nigeria’s northeast

In the statement, the suspects, Abdulrahman Ba’u and Ahmadu Umaru, said, “they are the ones responsible for a string of kidnapping and banditry operations in three (3) states – Taraba, Gombe,, and Adamawa.”

After the arrest of the suspects, who are both residents of Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba state, items recovered from them were a locally-made revolver gun, three rounds of live ammunition, three operational swords, hard drugs, and military camouflage uniforms.

Some Nigerian news websites reported this here and here.