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Claim: A viral imagecirculating on Facebook,
The post accompanying the image further claimed that the device, reportedly worth around $2,500 (approx. ₦4 million), had been acquired by the bandit leader despite claims that the equipment was barely available to the Nigerian military.
Correct : False.
Full Text:
A viral image showing Bello Turji wearing a state-of-the-art military helmet equipped with Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) has generated widespread reactions across social media platforms.
The image was originally shared by user X Adam Muhammad Mukhtar (@EngineerAdam123) before spreading to Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. The accompanying description identifies the equipment as LIT Gen2+ High-Visibility Head-Mounted Night Vision Goggles, and claims that the device costs approximately $2,500 (approx. ₦4 million).
Part of the statement reads:
“The device installed on Bello Turji’s helmet is known as Night Vision Goggles (NVG). This device is installed on tactical helmets and allows security officers to see in very low light or complete darkness without relying on a bright flashlight.”
It is further claimed:
“The main advantage is that it allows users to move and operate effectively at night while reducing the chance of detection. NVGs are commonly used for border surveillance, night patrols, and monitoring the movement of people or vehicles in dark environments.”
At the time of this fact check, the post had attracted thousands of interactions, including more than 8,000 likes, dozens of comments, reposts, and bookmarks, and many users accepted the claim as genuine.
The claim at the time of this report, had gained momentum online, with 8,120 likes, more than 68 likes, 13 bookmarks and 6 reshares and 1 quote.
A visit to the comments section shows that some people believe the narrative to be true.
For example, Sa’lasi @Ya_ssb wrote: “The comments section asked how he got it? It’s not hard, the black market in North Africa is easy easily accessible and cheap to get these goods, most of which are made in Russia.”
As well as, Kabir Muhammad Kafur said: “It was the ransom that produced them richer than the militarysomething DHQ cannot afford to pay for its personnel.”
Ibrahim Zulkiful wrote: “It doesn’t seem like anything you’re going to tell me means these people don’t have support deep down from people in power. How they managed to get their hands on these sophisticated instruments seems impossible.”
Given the increasing circulation of these claims and the potential to provide misinformation to the public, this reporter conducted an investigation.
Verification
We fed the viral image to several AI forensic detection tools to determine whether the image had been digitally manipulated. The analysis determined that the original photo of Bello Turji was genuine but that the military helmet and attached Night Vision Goggles had been artificially created.
Assessment is carried out using Whisperer Image found that the image recorded a Generation 6/7 score, indicating that six of the seven AI detection models removed the original photo while one model remained inconclusive.
Under Editing Check, the tool returned 1/2 clear and 1 flagged (Sparse-ViT), meaning only one editing detector identified signs of manipulation, which is below the threshold required to classify the entire image as an AI-generated image.
Further Source Checking found no camera metadata or web history, indicating that the edited version of the image lacked verifiable source information.
The forensic models underlying the assessments produced varying results. Commercial Scanner returned 0% AI probability, while SPAI recorded 0% and CommFor returned 0%, indicating that the original photo itself did not exhibit the characteristics of a fully AI-generated image.
Overall, these findings suggest that while the underlying image is authentic, parts of the image—specifically the military helmet and attached Night Vision Goggles, have been digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence.
To further verify the claim, we analyzed the image using MyAIFactChecker, which found no verifiable evidence that Bello Turji had purchased or owned the LIT Gen2+ High Visibility Head-Mounted Night Vision Goggles shown in the viral post.
This reporter also reviewed reports from credible news organizations, official security sources, and other publicly available records to determine whether there was reliable evidence to support claims that Bello Turji had obtained military-grade equipment.
The investigation found no credible reports confirming that the bandit leader possessed the Night Vision Goggles depicted in the viral image.
Conclusion
The claim that Bello Turji has acquired and worn LIT Gen2+ Head Mounted High Visibility Night Vision Goggles worth approximately $2,500 (approx. ₦4 million) is a misleading claim.
Investigations revealed that although the original photo of Bello Turji was genuine, the military helmet and attached Night Vision Goggles were artificially created and inserted into the image using AI. Additionally, there is no credible evidence to support the claim that the bandit leader possessed the military-grade equipment depicted in the viral post.
By: Shehu Uthman
This report was published under Muneer Yaqub’s NACJ-UDUS Next-Gen Fact-check and OSINT Fellowship.
