CLAIM: Nigerian social commentator, English Alhaji, claimed that five people were killed and scores of women kidnapped in a recent attack by bandits on Lanjige community in Sokoto State.
VERDICT: Misleading! The verified death toll from the attack is seven people, and no abduction was recorded.
Full Text
Popular social commentator and digital creator, D English Alhaji (@Denglish88) shared a video (archived here) claiming that five people were killed in the recent attack in the Lanjige community of Sabon Birni local government area of Sokoto State.
The video carried the caption “Bello Turji again…” In the video, the user also claimed that the attack was carried out by men loyal to Bello Turji, the notorious bandit leader, at around 11 pm on July 7, 2026.
He further claimed that the same assailants kidnapped an unknown number of Muslim women, and the eight persons injured from the incident were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The user @Denglish88 shared this video on his Facebook account, which has over two million followers. As of July 9, 2026, the post had garnered 257,000 views, 14,800 likes, 718 reshares, and 704 comments.
DUBAWA observed that comments on the post indicated that other users believed the claim without verification. A Facebook user, @Aliyuajiyya, wrote: “You are absolutely right, it is my village bro.”
Another user, @trafficNation, commented, “Why don’t those communities bring together groups of young men for any moment vigilante ?”
The Guardian published the same claims on their Facebook handle, with the headline “Turji’s men killed five, abduct women in Sokoto.”
DUBAWA decided to verify this because of the persistent security challenges in Northern Nigeria and the number of engagements the post attracted
Verification
To verify the claim, DUBAWA began by contacting the residents of Lanjige Community.
Nura Mohammed, a health practitioner at Primary Health Care (PHC) Lajinge, told DUBAWA in Hausa, “Mutane goma sha biyu sunka harbe, baya da nan mutane bakkwai Sunka mutu”. Which means, “the attackers shot 12 people, leaving 7 dead.”
Similarly, Abubakar Mudi, a resident of Sabon Birni, confirmed the same death toll. He said in Hausa, “…Duka-duka dai mutane bakkwai sunka rasa rayukan su,” which translates to “altogether, seven people lost their lives.”
Additionally, Mukhtar Ibrahim, a member of the community’s vigilante group, confirmed to DUBAWA that no one was abducted during or after the attack.
To further investigate the claims, DUBAWA spoke to Muhammad Hussaini, Wakilin Gundumar, a representative of the district head of Lajinge, Ummaru Magaji. Muhammad also confirmed that there was no record of abductions and that the number of casualties was seven.
We also attempted to reach the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Sabon Birni, but all efforts were unsuccessful because he did not answer repeated phone calls.
We conducted a keyword search, which led to a Daily Trust report that confirmed the number of people killed was seven. The report also did not mention any abduction.
In the same vein, dailytimesnigeria reported on its Instagram handle that seven people were killed without any further abduction report.
Conclusion
The claim that five people were killed and that women were abducted during a recent attack on the Lajinge community of Sokoto State is misleading. DUBAWA’s investigation shows that seven people were killed, while no abduction was recorded.
This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.
