IN SHORT: Kenya is grappling with banditry in its Rift Valley region, prompting the army to be called in. But a photo circulating on social media with the claim it shows Kenyan soldiers already making a difference was taken in Nigeria.
Kenya’s security forces are struggling to contain rampant banditry in six counties of its northern Rift Valley region.
On 13 February 2023, defence minister Aden Duale issued a gazette notice that the army would be sent to fight the bandits.
But the Law Society of Kenya urged the government to rescind the notice and get the national assembly’s approval first. The society has called the deployment unconstitutional and has threatened to go to court.
It is against this backdrop that a photo is circulating on Facebook with the claim that the Kenyan army recently caught bandits off guard.
The photo shows two armed soldiers leading three men in civilian clothes through a grassy field. Most captions claim that the soldiers are from the KDF, the Kenya Defence Forces.
The photo and its claim has also appeared here, here, here and here. But does it show bandits caught by the KDF? We checked.
Photo of kidnapped travellers rescued in Kaduna, Nigeria
A Google reverse image search of the photo led us to an article on the website of Punch, a Nigerian newspaper. It’s headlined “Troops rescue 30 kidnapped travellers in Kaduna” and dated 2 February 2023.
Kaduna is a city in the north-central Nigerian state of the same name.
The photo was snapped in Nigeria. It doesn’t show bandits arrested in Kenya.
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