Old video falsely claims to show ‘jihadists’ killed in Burkina Faso trying to cross into Nigeria
- Published on February 1, 2024 at 18:09
- Updated on February 1, 2024 at 18:10
- 6 min read
- By Erin FLANAGAN, AFP Africa
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“News flash = Burkina Faso killed scores of heavily armed bandits and terrorists crossing over to Nigeria for jihad,” reads a post on X published on January 30, 2024.
Liked more than 3,600 times, the post was shared by an account that regularly features content supporting the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The separatist group wants independence in Nigeria’s southeast region, and its supporters have made unfounded claims that a “genocide” of Christians was taking place in Nigeria (archived here).
Others shared the same clip but alleged that the bodies belonged to “Fulani Muslims” who entered Burkina Faso from Nigeria.
Fulani are an ethnic minority group in Nigeria. They are predominantly Muslim herders and are found throughout West Africa and the Sahel.
The posts include a two-minute-long video showing stacks of weapons, an armoured pickup truck, and dozens of blurred-out bodies lined up in front of motorcycles.
A French voiceover narrates the footage for the first 45 seconds.
“At dawn, terrorists faced off against our determined soldiers. After they failed to take the base and suffered heavy casualties, they hastily retreated,” the voiceover says.
Then, a man in uniform– also speaking French – appears on the screen to give an interview.
Most comments are in English and come from accounts based in Nigeria.
A comment posted by a user based in Plateau state is one of many that refers to the recent violence in north-central Nigeria.
“It’s time for everyone to start investing in their self-defence…no more depending on the military or government... These people are out for war, you run or fight for your lives,” it reads.
Intercommunal tensions
Clashes in Nigeria’s north-central states have their roots in community tensions over land and resources between Fulani Muslim herders and Christian farmers (archived here).
Fifty-five people died in Plateau state on January 25, 2024 — just a month after close to 200 people were killed over Christmas in raids on mostly Christian villages.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu came to power last year vowing to address insecurity in Africa's most populous nation. But critics say the violence is out of control (archived here).
However, the claim that the video shows individuals killed in Burkina Faso for trying to cross into Nigeria to commit “jihad” is false.
2022 attack
Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found a French-language post from May 21, 2022, that includes the same military truck seen in the false post (archived here).
“Burkina Faso/Update on the defeat suffered by terrorists who attacked the military base in Bourzanga,” reads part of the French caption.
The post includes a press release from May 21, 2022, topped with the Burkina Faso Armed Forces logo.
“The military detachment in Bourzanga (located in the north-central Bam province) vigorously pushed back an attack mounted against its military base on Saturday, May 21, 2022,” reads part of the statement written in French.
Using a keyword search in French for “base attack Bourzanga,” AFP Fact Check found several news reports published in May 2022, including one from AFP, detailing the violent clashes that resulted in the deaths of five soldiers and thirty attackers (archived here).
Another French news article confirmed the authenticity of the press release shared on Facebook (archived here).
Original footage
By combining the date of the attack with clues in the video, AFP Fact Check tracked down the original clip.
In the video, the soldier being interviewed speaks into a microphone with the logo for Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster, Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTB).
Using a keyword search for “RTB Bourzanga May 2022,” AFP Fact Check found the original footage in a news bulletin published on RTB’s official YouTube page.
“Thirty terrorists were killed and an armoured pick-up truck, weapons, and communication equipment were captured,” the news reporter says in French at 05’55”.
While the video used in the false post is blurred, several visual clues confirm the footage is the same as seen in the RTB report.
The same trees, blue cloth, and light-coloured blanket covering one of the bodies are visible in both videos.
The same cache of weapons is also visible in each clip.
Lastly, at 06’50”, the same soldier seen in the false post gives an interview to RTB.
Insecurity in West Africa
One of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso, is battling a jihadist insurgency that spilt over from neighbouring Mali in 2015. It experienced two coups in 2022 (archived here).
Both Burkina Faso and Mali were supposed to hold elections in 2024, but the military authorities want to extend the “transition” periods, citing the insecurity engendered by jihadist unrest (archived here).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Nigeria in January as part of a plan to battle instability and democratic decline in the region (archived here).
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