Photo-credit: Facebook
Claim: A video circulating on Facebook claims that students and staff of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) were arrested for allegedly acting as informants for Boko Haram. The post by a user, Citizen AY, reads: “University of Maiduguri students/staff who are on the payroll of Boko Haram rounded up! They are insider informants!”
Verity News investigated the claim and found it to be false. The less-than-two-minute video shows uniformed officers parading suspects, while a narrator recounts the alleged arrests. A closer look revealed that the officers’ vests were labelled “SARS,” referring to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, which was disbanded in 2020. This indicates the video predates 2020 and cannot depict any recent arrests.
A reverse image search traced the footage back to September 2019, when similar videos circulated online. At that time, some claimed the suspects were UNIMAID students involved in cultactivities, while others wrongly alleged Boko Haram connections.
UNIMAID has officially denied any link between its students and Boko Haram. In a statement released by the university’s Registrar, Ahmad Lawan, the management described the viral post as “false, baseless, and mischievous,” emphasizing that no student has been found to have ties to Boko Haram or any terrorist group. The university reaffirmed its commitment to promoting peace, countering violent extremism, and supporting security in the North-East.
Conclusion: The claim that UNIMAID students and staff were recently arrested for Boko Haram links is false. Verity News confirms that the video is from 2019 and unrelated to current events.