admin
Claim
Facebook pages circulated a news report alongside the image of a Catholic priest burnt to death by bandits and claimed it was a recent incident.
Verdict
This claim is MISLEADING. Findings show that the incident happened in 2019 and is not recent.
Full Text
In late 2025 and early 2026, President Donald Trump claims of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria, characterizing the violence in the country as an existential threat to Christianity.
This rhetoric culminated in a formal designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) and led to a series of controversial U.S. airstrikes against Islamist militant positions on Christmas Day 2025.
Trump argued that the Nigerian government had been “lethargic” and ineffective in protecting religious minorities, threatening a “guns-a-blazing” military intervention if the killings continued.
The security landscape in Northern Nigeria is, in reality, a complex web of overlapping conflicts that extend far beyond religious identity. While groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP do explicitly target Christians and churches, the vast majority of casualties in the North remain Muslims, often killed in mosques or during raids on their own villages.
The Nigerian government has firmly rejected the “genocide” label, insisting that the violence is fueled by terrorism and socio-economic instability rather than a state-sanctioned or systematic campaign against any faith.
Social media users in Nigeria shared an image of a Catholic priest alongside the report that he was burnt to death by armed bandits in Taraba State, Nigeria’s Northeast.
According to the story, the priest, David Tanko was set ablaze alongside his vehicle.
The Facebook page, Political affairs Int, tagged “BREAKING” to the report, claiming this happened recently.
Check where this claim appeared here and here.
Verification
FACTWATCH Nigeria subjected the image of the Catholic priest to Google Image Reverse Search and it was discovered that the incident happened in 2019.
Guardian Nigeria reported that the Catholic Church was saddened and shocked by the murder of one of its priests, Rev. Fr. David Tanko, in Taraba State.
According to the newspaper, the tragedy occurred barely a month after suspected Fulani herders killed Rev. Fr. Paul Offu in Enugu State. The murder of Offu had also followed the killing of yet another priest, Rev. Fr. Clement Eziagu, a month earlier.
The Guardian Nigeria publication stated in 2019, that the late priest was attacked in Kufai-Amadu village along Takum-Wukari road as he went for a peace meeting.
Reacting, then Inspector General of Police, Adamu Adamu, ordered the police authorities in Taraba State, to fish out the killers.
See a similar report here and here.
Conclusion
This check on the photo found that this incident is not as recent as claimed.
Credit: FACTWATCH Nigeria
