Reuters, the International News Agency has withdrawn a violence video purported to be taken in Maiduguri last week after discovering that the video was a fake video. Reuters had previously alleged that the video was sent to it by a soldier who witnessed the killings, but when contacted, the Nigerian Army spokesman, Colonel Mohammed Yerima, had denied the video claiming it was a set up by Boko Haram for propaganda purposes.
He had said when contacted about the video that “How can they do that? It is not possible. This is the Boko Haram tactics,” he said. “They will do the killing, say it’s the military and then Amnesty International and so on will blame us. It’s not possible for Nigerian troops to act in this way.”
But after investigating the story and finding it to be false, Reuters released the following statement below;
(Reuters) – Please be advised that the Nigeria story issued on November 18, 2012, reporting that a video showed Nigerian troops shooting unarmed captives, is withdrawn.
The story is withdrawn because questions have been raised about the date and location of the video.