Army, Police Debunk Viral Claim Of 111 Deaths In Sokoto
The Nigerian Army and Sokoto State Police Command have dismissed as false a viral report claiming that 111 civilians and security personnel were killed in an alleged attack in Sokoto State, warning against the spread of unverified claims that could inflame ethnic tensions.
Security agencies say no such mass-casualty attack occurred, dismissing a viral report that risked inflaming ethnic tensions.
The claim, published by Facebook page Hausaland Magazine on October 5, 2026, alleged that gunmen killed more than 100 civilians, 10 soldiers and a Mobile Police officer, while abducting several others in a community identified as “Garin Gobir Gindin”.
However, a SpyeTV News report fact-checking the claim found no evidence to support it, while security authorities confirmed that no such attack occurred in the state.
The Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 8 Division and Sector 2, Operation FANSAN YAMMA, Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba, dismissed the allegation.
“There was no such attack involving the reported mass casualties in the state,” he said.
The Sokoto State Police Command also refuted the report, with its Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ahmed Rufa’i, stating, “This incident did not occur within Sokoto.”
The report found no record of a community named “Garin Gobir Gindin” in the geographical sources and community gazettes it consulted.
A reverse-image search also failed to establish a credible link between the photograph accompanying the post and the alleged attack.
The investigation identified a separate incident on October 4 in Ungushi village, Kebbe Local Government Area, where bandits reportedly killed two people and injured another.
Police confirmed the incident, but its details did not match the viral claim.
The false report, which described the alleged killings as a “genocide” and a “war on Hausa”, also drew inflammatory comments targeting ethnic groups, raising concerns about the potential for misinformation to fuel hostility and panic.
The report concluded that the claim of 111 civilian and security personnel deaths in the alleged attack was false, urging the public to verify security-related reports through credible sources before sharing them.
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