On Sunday, the Nigerian Army announced the rescue of two kidnap victims and the recovery of ₦3.8 million ransom in Kogi State, following an operation by troops of the 12 Brigade deployed at Forward Operating Base, Oguma.
The Army said the rescue was carried out after credible intelligence led troops to intercept kidnappers along the Itobe–Adumu–Ejule axis. During the encounter, soldiers exchanged fire with the criminals, forcing them to abandon the victims and flee into the forest.
TROOPS OF 12 BRIGADE RESCUE TWO KIDNAPPED VICTIMS AND RECOVER RANSOM IN KOGI STATE
In a sustained effort to rid Kogi State of criminal activities, troops of 12 Brigade Nigerian Army deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Oguma have successfully rescued two kidnapped victims… pic.twitter.com/mKDOXx5eER
— Nigerian Army (@HQNigerianArmy) November 3, 2025
EDITOR’S PICKS
However, shortly after the Army’s statement was posted on X on Monday, posts began circulating on social media alleging that one of the photos of the rescued victims shared by the Army was not new but taken nine months earlier.
One of the most widely circulated claims came from an X user, @Khalil_Ozil, who posted, “Hello!!! This was from 9 months ago nau!” The post, which included a screenshot purportedly showing that the image was uploaded nine months earlier, has garnered more than 500,000 views and more than 9,000 likes as of the time of writing.
https://twitter.com/Khalil_Ozii/status/1985305986408624275
The claim appears to have stemmed from a Google reverse-image search, which returned a result linking the photo to another X account, @bummiearo, that supposedly posted it nine months ago. However, a closer examination of the search results reveals that clicking on the image from Google’s page does not lead to a specific post showing the photo from nine months ago; instead, it opens the user’s profile.
A review by EKO HOT BLOG shows that @bummiearo merely reposted a tweet by @NigeriaStories, which had shared the Army’s rescue announcement, including the same photo. This suggests that the image appeared on @bummiearo’s profile because of the repost, not because it originated there nine months ago. Also, a review of the account does not show that the photo was posted on it nine months ago, which would be around February to March 2025.
Technical review also indicates that Google’s timestamping system is not infallible. Search engines sometimes display inaccurate dates for indexed pages or images. When this occurs, it typically means Google’s crawler was unable to correctly determine the publication date of the content. This flaw has been documented in many instances where Google shows a wrong or misleading timestamp in search result snippets.
Further verification by EKO HOT BLOG found that another search result on Instagram purportedly showing the photo “1 week ago” instead led to an Instablog9ja post containing five unrelated photos, none matching the Army’s rescue image. This discrepancy reinforces the point that Google search snippets alone are unreliable proof of when a photo was first published.
No credible evidence has emerged to support the claim that the Army recycled an old image. Available findings show that the photo in question was first published alongside the Army’s official statement on November 2, 2025, and subsequently reposted by news outlets and social media accounts after the announcement.
Later on Monday, the owner of the @Bummiearo X account, Olubunmi Aro, responded to claims that his account posted the photo nine months ago.
Please stop lying against me. I never posted such image. Why can't you search through my posts from January till date @DejiAdesogan https://t.co/6YyN4lB5CT
— Bunmi of Akoko 🇳🇬 (@bummiearo) November 3, 2025
In a followup post, Aro wrote in part: “I never made any post about the military and I’ve never done that in my existence on X.”
This is a LIE
Don't use me to score points filled with lies
I never made any post about the military and I've never done that in my existence on X
Review all my contents on X from January 2025 and it will tell you the kind of posts I make. https://t.co/KcImoHQC48 pic.twitter.com/09mInPTJFJ
— Bunmi of Akoko 🇳🇬 (@bummiearo) November 3, 2025
The controversy comes amid rising political tension online after United States (US) President Donald Trump threatened to invade Nigeria to attack terrorists over alleged Christian genocide, with some critics accusing the Army and the Tinubu administration of propaganda, claiming that the military has been inflating reports of successful operations to project an image that it is winning the war against terrorists.
CLAIM: Nigerian Army recycled a nine-month-old photo to pass off as a fresh photo from a recent rescue operation of kidnap victims in Kogi State.
VERDICT: There is no verifiable evidence that the photo released by the Nigerian Army on Sunday was recycled from nine months ago. The Google search result being cited in support of the claim appears to have been a misleading timestamp from a reposted image, not proof of an older publication.
Therefore, the claim that the Nigerian Army reused an old photograph to announce a new rescue operation in Kogi State is, therefore, FALSE.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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