FACT-CHECK: Video of March reprisal attack in Nasarawa linked to Edo incident that never happened

Claim

An X user, @SM_CEE1,∅ claimed that 27 persons were murdered by Fulani terrorists in Edo State, with many houses also razed.

The user shared a video to substantiate his claim.

Insecurity has been rife in southern Nigeria, especially in the western region, recently, following the widespread abductions and killings in some of the states, with the infamous abduction of school teachers and students that occurred a few weeks ago.

Edo State in Nigeria’s South-south region, on the other hand, has been witnessing a series of kidnappings for ransom in recent years, with Fulani herders being accused of being responsible for them.

In the post by the X user on 9 June, he claimed that “Fulani terrorists attacked an area in Edo State, killed 27 people, destroyed houses and escaped.

“Omo these people no longer only kidnap again,” @SM_CEE1∅ lamented.

The post, which has already garnered over 26k views, had people who commented under it, believing that the video was from a recent attack in Edo State.

But these are what we found

At FACTWATCH Nigeria, we conducted a Google Lens search using some screenshots from the clip and then discovered that the video has been online since 26 March.

Many Facebook and Instagram pages that published the video clip then, wrote that several persons were feared dead after “suspected herdsmen attacked Mararaba Community Near Abuja.”

You can watch the clips shared on Facebook and Instagram here and here.

An online newspaper, People’s Gazette, was among the news websites that reported that the incident occurred in March.

The newspaper also reported that seven houses, a container shop, two cars and a bike were among the visible devastation in Unguwan Yobe and Aso Pada communities in Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

It added that the destruction was carried out by suspected herders who besieged the towns, avenging one of them shot by a member of the communities.

To corroborate this evidence that the incident happened in March in Nasarawa State, we found a report by a more credible news organisation in Nigeria, Premium Times, which reported that three people were killed and several others injured in a violent clash in the Maraba Gurku community of the Karu Local Government Area of the state on 25 March.

The incident, which occurred around 9 a.m. in the Aso A area of the community, reportedly began as a dispute between a mobile police officer and a herder.

According to a source who asked not to be named for security reasons, the herder had allegedly led his cattle into the officer’s compound and began cutting down a mango tree to feed the animals.

However, the attacks continued and spread to other communities on 3 April when the Nasarawa State Police Command confirmed the death of 11 residents of Udege Development Area in the Nasarawa Local Government of the state following renewed clashes between two communities in the area.

The two warring communities, Akyawa and Udege Kasa, clashed in the early hours of Friday over some disagreements.

Punch reported that the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Ramhan Nansel, explained that the casualties prompted the Commissioner of Police, Shetima Jauro Mohammed, to visit the communities with a view to restoring normalcy.

According to Nansel, during the CP’s visit to the affected communities of Akyawa and Udege Kasa on April 3, 2026, Mohammed expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident, which claimed the lives of 11 persons and led to the burning of several houses.