Multiple social media posts have falsely suggested that French soldiers have arrived in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, to establish a military base in the north-east geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
The posts were accompanied by short video clips of the recent visit of some officers of the UK military to Maiduguri but were wrongly attributed to the French military.
CableCheck observed that the disinformation went viral after Mahdi Shehu, a public affairs and political commentator, uploaded a post on X in which he alleged that French military base would soon be sited in the north-east after Femi Oluyede, chief of army staff, reportedly received French soldiers.
The now-deleted post was uploaded on December 14, and accompanied by a video of a Nigerian army officer speaking Hausa while the background showed a foreign soldier.
Shehu, who has about 77,000 followers on X, deleted the post after it had garnered over 200,000 views, 2,000 reposts, and 1,700 likes.
Before Shehu deleted the post, multiple Facebook users had copied and reshared the content.
The post was published here, here, and here
BACKGROUND
The withdrawal of French troops from Niger Republic, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso has fueled speculation that the French government is seeking a new ally in the Sahel region.
In September, the United States Department of Defense completed the withdrawal of its forces from the Niger Republic — this was after the Niger military junta ended its cooperation with the US.
Anti-western narratives are gaining traction in the Sahel region and social media platforms are being used to spread them.
The development has fueled speculations that Western forces are purportedly pressuring the Nigerian government to host their military bases in the most populated African country.
The recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to France to meet with Emmanuel Macron, the French president also fueled the speculation. The visit was seen in some quarters as an attempt by the French government to court the Nigerian government.
VERIFICATION
In the video posted by Shehu, Abubakar Haruna, the general officer commanding (GOC) of 7 division of the Nigerian army, who was speaking Hausa, commended the UK government for donating equipment to the Nigerian army.
“The UK always supports us and what they have brought will assist us in removing things (explosives) that Boko Baram put in our roads which kills innocent lives,” Haruna said in Hausa.
“We will use the equipment they brought to identify places explosives are buried and remove them.”
In the video, the foreign soldier behind Haruna is Martin Leach, a colonel and deputy head of British Defence Staff in West Africa.
Checks by CableCheck revealed that the video was taken in Maimalari, Maiduguri, Borno state, on October 25, 2024, when officers of the British Defence Staff in West Africa visited Nigeria.
During the visit, the representatives of the UK army donated advanced counter-improvised explosives devices (IEDs) to operation hadin kai theatre (OPHK).
Media platforms like TVC, Channels Television, News Central, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), and other outfits reported the visit of the British officers and the donation.
Clues from the video posted by Shehu showed that it was obtained from TikTok. However, it was not so clear to indicate the TikTok handle.
Other versions of the video posted on social media showed that it emanated from the TikTok handle of @atikugaladima007. Cable Check observed that the viral video clips were obtained from the page, including the one where Haruna was speaking Hausa.
The TikTok handle published videos from the visit on October 26, 2024.
The user is a journalist who is based in the north-east zone of Nigeria.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has also dismissed the claim alleging plans to site a French military base in the north-east.
VERDICT
The claim that the French military has been deployed to Maiduguri to establish a military base in Nigeria is false.
