By Pascal Ibe
Claim
An X user, @Gozoedragon∅∅7 shared a video depicting a dilapidated house and properties of the former Access Bank managing director, Herbert Wigwe, and warned Nigerian politicians that human life is a vanity.
Verdict
This video is FALSE. Checks indicated that it was AI-generated.
Full Text
In 2024, the chief executive of Nigeria’s largest bank, his wife, and his son were among six people killed in a helicopter crash in a remote part of the Mojave Desert along the California-Nevada border, according to officials.
The Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, his wife, Doreen Chizoba, and son Chizi, died in the crash along with the former group chairman of Nigeria’s stock exchange Abimola Ogunbanjo.
In February last year, the helicopter at the center of the deadly crash departed about 8.45pm from Palm Springs airport in California en route to Boulder City, Nevada, about 26 miles (41km) southeast of Las Vegas, which on Sunday is hosting this year’s Super Bowl. The aircraft was reportedly an Airbus Helicopters EC-130.
18 months later, an X user, @Goziedragon∅∅7 shared a video showing a dilapidated house and properties of the former Access Bank managing director, Wigwe, and warned Nigerian politicians that human life is a vanity.
The X user published the video with a caption that reads, “The house of Herbert Wigwe, the man who died a few years ago.
A lesson to these politicians and those killing others to make health.
“Key into your kinsmen and do well with your people so that you will not be a fugitive even in your death.
The post has garnered over 5k views with more than 75 reposts.
Verification
First, FACTWATCH Nigeria took keyframes from the video and subjected them to an AI detection tool, Illuminarty. The results from this tool indicated that the screenshot from the video was 95% AI-generated.
Checking further, we saw “Jester AI”, a watermark on the video. When searching on Google, it was discovered that Jester AI is an AI-powered application that helps you create engaging social media photo captions. An indicator that this video wasn’t real.
This Fact Checker came across videos of the house of the late Access Bank MD post on YouTube and Instagram in 2024 and found it was not the same as the one ñ in the video that was shared by the X user recently.
Conclusion
To generate traffic, the X user deliberately posted an AI-generated video to depict the current condition of the house and properties of late Access Bank MD Wigwe.
