Clip of damaged Iranian drone was filmed in Iraq, not Nigeria

“An Iranian aircraft that lost its way entered Nigeria, and the Nigerian army has successfully shot it down in Dan Isah village in Sokoto state,” reads a Facebook post written in Hausa, a language spoken widely in northern Nigeria.

The accompanying video shows the wreckage of a drone. The post has been shared more than 90 times since it was published on March 2, 2026.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on March 12, 2026

The war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, began after a joint US-Israel missile strike killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, along with some of his close family members and military leaders (archived here).

The former leader’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was appointed his successor (archived here).

In retaliation, Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel and other Gulf countries with ties to the United States (archived here and here).

However, the video does not show an Iranian drone that was shot down in Nigeria.

Iraqi incident

AFP Fact Check found no credible reports from international or Nigerian media outlets about an Iranian drone found in the West African country. 

The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has also not published any statement claiming to have shot down a stray Iranian drone.

Additionally, the distance between Iran and Nigeria is more than 5,700 kilometres (3,540 miles) -- more than double the estimated maximum range of Iranian one-way attack drones such as the Shahed-136, which can travel up to 2,500 kilometres (archived here).

A reverse image search led to the original video, published on X on March 1, 2026, by Rudaw Media Network, a Kurdish media organisation (archived here).

“This Iranian drone crashed in the village of Girdechal in Erbil,” reads the Kurdish post.

Erbil is the capital city of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Visual markers from the Facebook clip, including the brown box near the wreckage and the logo in the top left corner, match those seen in the footage published by Rudaw.

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Screenshots comparing the false Facebook post (left) and the original video published by Rudaw, taken on March 13, 2026

According to a March 11, 2026, report by Rudaw, Erbil was targeted by drone attacks for 11 consecutive days since the war started on February 28 (archived here).

The report added that at least 231 drones were directed at the region over that period, with strikes attributed to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iraqi pro-Tehran militia groups. 

Iran’s army also said it recently targeted US bases in Kurdistan, including Erbil International Airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in the region (archived here and here).

AFP Fact Check has debunked other claims linking African countries to the Middle East war, including false claims that Iran bombed a US military base in Djibouti and the US embassy in Ethiopia.