Viral video doesn't show naira notes discovered in Delta state, Nigeria in 2025, but 2022 incident in Benue state

IN SHORT: According to a viral video on Facebook, Nigeria's Economic Financial and Crime Commission discovered bags of old naira notes in Delta state in February 2025. But this incident took place in Wadata, Benue state, in 2022.

A viral Facebook post claims that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has discovered old naira notes hidden in a container in Delta state in southern Nigeria.

A video shows people going over sacks of money and a container filled with several other sacks.

A woman, who appears to be recording the video, speaks in pidgin English. It translates to: "See money, the money has spoiled. Look at where it was hidden. Politicians will not kill us."

The EFCC is a government agency that fights economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.

Other posts making the same claim can be found here, here, here, and here (Note: see more instances listed at the end of this report.)

But did the EFCC discover old naira notes hidden in Delta state in early 2025? We checked.

Old video

Africa Check broke the video into keyframes and checked them using Google reverse image search. We discovered that the video has been online since 2022 when residents of Wadata in Benue state found sacks of old naira notes.

A keyword search showed that an EFCC official told Punch newspaper at the time that the naira notes were condemned notes from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He said the owner of the notes had bought them from the CBN, meant to process the discarded notes "into mosquito repellents" and had been issued a license by the CBN for waste management.

The video went viral on social media in 2022 too, when Nigerian news agencies like Vanguard news, Sahara Reporters, Daily Trust, and Punch newspapers reported on the incident.

More posts claiming that old naira notes were discovered in Delta State can be found here, here, here, here, here, here and here.