Following the attack on worshippers by bandits at a branch of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) at Oke Isegun in the Eruku community in Kwara state on November 18, pictures showing some Christians purportedly carrying guns as a means of self-defence started trending on social media
The attack on the worshippers was captured during a live stream, which was later published on social media.
Three worshippers were killed, and 38 others were kidnapped during the attack.
The bandits’ attack on the church occurred amid the conversation on Christian genocide in Nigeria and the threat of military action by United States President Donald Trump.
There has been an uptick in the attacks on churches in the country, a development which has sparked conversation on the need for citizens to be armed to defend themselves against gunmen.
Amid the attacks, social media users started posting pictures purportedly showing Christians bearing arms.
PICTURE TAKEN FROM A SKIT MISREPRESENTED AS REAL EVENT
On December 1, Oriental Times, a blogsite, posted an image showing a man holding an AK-47 rifle and a Bible beside a woman.
The picture was captioned: “Nigerian Pastor Seen Preaching With AK-47 In The Street”.
The post has so far garnered over 4,500 likes, 880 comments, and 230 shares.
Using Google Lens to conduct a reverse image search, CableCheck found that the picture was a screenshot from a video published by a Nigerian content creator, popularly known as Pastor Destiny.
The video was posted by the content creator on his Facebook page — REAL DON DADDY — on November 24, showing himself and a woman preaching on the street while holding a Bible and an AK-47 rifle.
The content creator creates content focused on prayers and the preaching of the gospel, with a blend of humour.
AI-GENERATED IMAGES OF WORSHIPPERS BEARING ARMS
Another viral picture was an image showing some churchgoers with AK-47 rifles in a church. The image has been posted multiple times on social media. Some of those who posted the image claimed that the church is located in Kwara state.
On November 23, a X user with the handle @BLEXGUY posted the viral image with the caption: “Happy Sunday from church in kwara guide yourself….. No wait for security”.
The post has generated over one million views with over 2,000 reposts, 309 quotes, and 19,000 likes.
A close examination of the viral picture showed indications of an AI-generated image.
First, the woman standing at the centre of the image holding an AK-47 rifle has four fingers on her right hand.
Second, when the image was analysed on SynthID, a tool for watermarking and identifying AI-generated content, it showed that the image was generated with Google AI.
Another viral image of a woman holding a rifle and a Bible while wearing a security jacket was posted on Facebook with the caption “One hand with bible other hand with gun scriptures fulfill NEHEMIAH 4:3-17 Father protect all believers in Jesus Name PLEASE PRAY FOR BELIEVERS”.
When CableCheck analysed the picture on SynthID, the results showed that it was created with Google AI.
RECYCLED IMAGE OF A PRIEST HOLDING A RIFLE IN CHURCH
Another viral image used to push the narrative of churchgoers armed with guns was the picture of a man robed in a cassock, mostly used by Catholic priests, who was holding a rifle.
A Facebook page identified as Chinedu Anichi TV with over 88,000 followers posted the image alongside the caption: “This is the only way the remaining Nigerian Christians can. Worship on Sunday. Indeed there was a country”.
CableCheck found out that the image of the Catholic priest has been on the internet since 2017. The image has been repeatedly used to drive the same narratives in previous years.
In May 2022, TheCable published a fact-check report to verify the claim that the cleric in the viral image was carrying the gun to protect himself from protesters in Sokoto who were calling for the release of suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Deborah Emmanuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto state.
Deborah was attacked by a mob and set ablaze over “blasphemous comments”.
