A video circulating on social media claims to show a bandit leader in Nigeria being accidentally shot by his colleague during his wedding celebration.
The 53-second clip shows a group of men gathered in a circle, wearing different outfits and turbans covering most of their faces. One man holding a gun walks toward another and fires into the air. One of the bullets appears to hit a man identified by the Facebook user as the leader, after which the crowd rushes toward him as he appears to be bleeding.
An X account, @Naija Trend_1, posted the video with the caption:
“VIDEO: Watch the moment Armed bandit misfired his colleague during his wedding engagement.”
As of December 10, 2025, the post had generated 800 reposts and over 2,000 likes with many suggesting they are terrorists in Nigeria.
CLAIM
Video shows a bandits leader in Nigeria accidentally shot during a gathering.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
The claim is circulating amid a rise in terrorist attacks, kidnappings, and violent incidents across Nigeria, which has heightened public sensitivity to videos showing shootings or injuries. For instance, in November 2025, over 300 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, in one of the largest mass kidnappings in recent times.
Around the same period, gunmen stormed a girls’ boarding school in Kebbi State, abducting 25 students. Such attacks, along with repeated raids on communities and clashes between armed groups, have prompted widespread outrage, fear, and rapid sharing of related content on social media.
The FactCheckHub subjected the keyframes in the video to Google Reverse Image search, and it was traced back to November 28, 2025, in Amdirib, Batha Province, Chad.
Reports by platforms like The Zambia Observer and Daily Star indicate the video shows a man who was accidentally shot on his wedding day after his brother fired celebratory gunshots into the air. The groom later died at the provincial hospital, and local authorities launched an investigation.
The shooting was part of a cultural practice in Chad, where communities, including the Hadjerai people, fire guns into the air during weddings and other celebrations to express joy.
Analysis of the video indicates that the language spoken by the people is Hadjerai, largely spoken in the Batha province of Chad, further establishing that the incident occurred in Chad and not Nigeria.
Extensive searches using keywords from the social media post found no verifiable reports of a similar incident in Nigeria.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows a Fulani herdsmen leader being shot in Nigeria is FALSE. The incident actually took place in Chad during a wedding celebration, where ceremonial gunfire accidentally struck the groom.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.