Was viral video of a woman shooting with AK47 recorded in Nigeria?

A video was shared by a user (@ipob_central) on X (formerly Twitter) suggesting that the woman seen in the video he posted is a member of the Fulani Muslim Jihadists operating in the northern part of Nigeria. The caption reads “These are female members of the Fulani Muslim Jihadists operating in the northern region of […]

A video was shared by a user (@ipob_central) on X (formerly Twitter) suggesting that the woman seen in the video he posted is a member of the Fulani Muslim Jihadists operating in the northern part of Nigeria.

The caption reads “These are female members of the Fulani Muslim Jihadists operating in the northern region of Nigeria. Their directive from the Fulani elite is to target and eliminate Christians in the north and middle belt regions.”

“Despite the Nigerian Army being aware of their whereabouts, they have not taken action against them as these militants are their allies.”

The author of the tweet added that “the global community must recognise that the so-called conflict between farmers and herders is not a mere clash but rather a deliberate campaign of terrorism orchestrated by the Fulani with the tacit support of the ruling party (APC).”

While some users noted the claim to be misleading, many others agreed with the author of the post.

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The post had garnered 18000 views and was retweeted by over 300 people with 237 likes as of the time of this report.

This claim came amidst the outrage on social media about the killings in Plateau State.

Verification

In a bid to verify the claim, fact-checkers at Daily Trust on Sunday carried out a video verification using the InVid video verification tool and the result revealed that the clip first surfaced on the internet in Khartoum, Sudan, on March 5, 2018.

Our investigation led us to the blog it was first posted to called ‘Kush News’ in Khartoum, Sudan, and the headline reads “A girl shoots from a Kalashnikov inside her home, amidst her family’s horror.”

The full story claims that social media activists circulated the video of the Sudanese girl who caused terror among her family members by trying to shoot live bullets from a Kalashnikov rifle inside her home.

“Many denounced the girl’s experience using weapons and the live bullets she fired, raising some questions regarding the arms collection campaign that was organized in many states,” it added.

Further investigation showed that the same video was shared on the internet in Nigeria on July 1, 2018, with the caption “We are not safe in Nigeria. Fulani militants have declared war against Christians.”

Another post with the same video was captioned “Fulani woman being taught how to handle AK47 in Nigeria. Their men are already professionals. Christians ask their women to pray and speak in tongues, those who have the guns will always win.”

Similarly, the same video has been shared on Facebook and Twitter at different times with contradicting narratives.

Background

The Fula or Fulani jihads sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries led largely by Muslim Fula people. The jihads and jihad states came to an end with European colonization.

The earliest Fulbe polity was established in Bunda in 1960, the first armed uprising took place in Futa Jallon in 1972 when Fula pastoralists assisted by Muslim traders rose against the indigenous chiefdoms.

The revolutionary Usman Dan Fodio through a series of jihads began in 1804 which created the Sokoto Caliphate, the largest state in West Africa at that time.

The reforms aimed to create Islamic states across Western Africa.

The reforms also aimed to counter socio-political problems, including underpopulation and shortages of goods such as food and water, which together intensified existing economic problems.

Furthermore, they also wanted to stop the European invasion of Africa and the Islamic world, as at this time many European nations were colonising parts of Africa and Islamic empires.

However, the word jihad or jihadist is now associated with terrorists and is seen as a means to terminate all Christians in Nigeria.

Conclusion

Based on verifiable information, fact-checkers at Daily Trust can confirm that the claim that the video is of a female member of the Fulani Muslim Jihadists operating in the northern part of Nigeria with the target to eliminate Christians is false and misleading.

The video is not recent and didn’t happen in Nigeria. It emanated from Khartoum, Sudan, and first surfaced on the internet in 2018.

This Fact Check is produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)