Back to Africa Check

Scam alert, the Nigerian Air Force isn't recruiting

IN SHORT: The Nigerian Air Force says it is not currently recruiting, so beware of scammers out to get your money and claiming otherwise. Ignore the purchase notice on social media registration forms.

A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria claims that forms are on sale for people interested in joining the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), with recruitment running from 30 July to 22 September 2023.

It begins: “PURCHASE NIGERIAN AIR FORCE FORM ONLINE FOR AIRMEN/AIRWOMEN RECRUITMENT STARTING FROM,30th /07/2023 to September 22th 2023.”

The poorly written post encourages those interested to apply if they have the qualifications listed and to call the telephone number on the post if they need help with the application.

The NAF last recruited new members in 2022.

We found the same claim on Facebook here, here, and here

But is the recruitment notice genuine? We checked.

NgAirForce_False

‘Fake NAF recruitment advert’

The NAF issued a disclaimer on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts on 23 July 2023, warning Nigerians about fake recruitment ads.

NAF said it “wishes to state that it is not currently conducting any recruitment exercise. It would be recalled that the NAF on 8 July 2023 graduated recruits of Basic Military Training Course 43/2022”.

It posted a version of the recruitment ad graphic stamped with “FAKE” alongside the disclaimer. It added that the public would be “adequately informed” when it was recruiting again.

Be careful: read our guide on how to spot online job scams.

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

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 guide

Africa 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

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters
CAPTCHA

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.