By Pascal Ibe

A popular blog, Instablog, has published a video showing a tense confrontation between youths and soldiers with the claim that it occurred in Edo State a few days ago.

Instablog posted the video with a caption that reads, “Nigerian Army versus Edo Youths.”

The claim generated over 647k views and more than 7k likes, according to X analytics.

Many X users have already disclosed that this was a video incident that happened in Akure, Ondo State, yet the blog has neither pulled it down nor made corrections at the time of filling this check.

Background

Outrage and anger have continued to greet the recent killing of 16 northern hunters in Edo State who were traveling from Rivers State to Kano for the Eid Mubarak celebration.

According to reports,16 northern hunters traveling to Kano were killed by vigilance group members and locals in Uromi, Edo State on 27 March 2025.

The victims were reportedly returning home from Rivers State to celebrate the end of Ramadan and Eid Kabir with their families when they were attacked.

Various northern groups, state governments, and lawmakers, among others, in separate statements, frowned at the incident, which they described as barbaric and cowardly.

Verification

This FactChecker subjected keyframes from the video to a Google Image Reverse Search, and results showed that this video was a protest by the students over rising insecurity in Ondo State on Thursday 27th March 2025. It’s unrelated to any form of protest in Edo State.

AIT LIVE reported on Thursday that scores of Students across all the tertiary institutions in Ondo State protested over the rising cases of kidnappings and other criminal activities in the state.

The protesting students, led by the NANS South West chairman, Oluwarotimi Joshua, carrying placards with different inscriptions, blocked major roads in Akure, the state capital, obstructing traffic as they called on the state Government and security agencies to be sincere in addressing various security challenges in the state.

The students accused the state government of neglecting their safety and demanded urgent action to address the worsening situation.

They accused the state Governor of paying lip service to the security of lives and property in the state.

Credible news organizations like TVC Nigeria and News Central reported this incident and published the video here and here.

A headline publication by the Vanguard news on Tuesday disclosed that communities around Old Ilushi Road, Opere, and Good Will Junction in Uromi, Edo State, have been deserted by residents for fear of reprisals and arrests by security agents following the lynching of 16 travelers by a mob in the area last Thursday.

Verdict

The video shared by Instablog on the X platform is unrelated to any protest in Edo State. Therefore, it’s MISLEADING.