IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claimed that supporters of Rivers state governor and his predecessor exchanged gunfire in March 2025, leaving at least 15 people dead. But there are no media reports or police statements about such an incident.
The governor of Nigeria’s Rivers state, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor Nyesom Wike have been locked in a political power struggle.
Fubara was elected governor in March 2023. A few months later, the Rivers state house of assembly initiated impeachment proceedings against him. The proceedings were withdrawn, but this escalated into a major political crisis.
In March 2025, Fubara lost his court bid to dismiss pro-Wike lawmakers. The All Progressives Congress party has asked him to resign or be impeached.
In this context, some Facebook users claimed that supporters of Wike and Fubara clashed, leading to the death of 15 people.
Part of a 10 March 2025 post reads: “Heavy shooting is happening right now in Rivers State as supporters of Nyesom Wike try to take control from Governor Sim Fubara. At least 15 people, called rebels, have been killed so far in the fighting. All roads in and out of Rivers State are now closed, and people are being told to stay inside their homes for safety. This trouble started after President Tinubu pulled out all police and soldiers from the state, leaving it open to chaos.”
The same claim appears here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But were 15 people killed in a shootout between supporters of Wike and Fubara in Rivers state? We checked.
No evidence
We found it suspicious that the posts did not include important information, such as the exact location of the shootout.
No credible media house has reported on this supposed shootout. Conflict between Wike and Fubara often makes headlines, but this shooting allegedly between their supporters is not in the news.
A search of keywords from the claim led us to a 5 March 2025 report about a shooting in Elele, in the Ikwerre local government area of Rivers state. According to the report, some gunmen opened fire on a group of young people, believed to be Fubara’s supporters, leaving four of them injured.
Rivers state police confirmed the incident in a statement, saying: “A manhunt is currently underway for the fleeing suspects, some of whom have been identified as members of the local vigilante group known as OSPAC.”
The posts also claimed the chaos started when president Bola Tinubu “pulled out all police and soldiers from the state”. But if this were true, the police wouldn’t have been at the scene of the 5 March incident and released a statement about it.
The two politicians would also most likely have commented on the incident, but we found no mention of it on their social media accounts.
The same claim was found here, here, here, here, here and here.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment