No rockets were fired by Fulani herders in southeastern Nigeria, ignore social media posts
IN SHORT: There has been an influx of misinformation in Nigeria after a group of Hausa men were killed by a mob in March 2025. One such false rumour is that a rocket was fired at southeastern Nigeria by Fulani herders. But no evidence for this exists.
"Fulani herdsmen reportedly launched at least 10 rockets from Kogi State into Enugu State. In a circulating video, one of the rockets can be seen striking a location in southeastern Nigeria," reads a claim on Facebook, repeated widely.
The 7 April 2025 post features four photos, including of Enugu state governor Peter Mbah, a burning house and what looks like a flying object.
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The same claim was found here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
The herders referred to are nomadic cattle rearers primarily from the Fulani ethnic group living in northern Nigeria and other parts of West Africa.
Fulani herders have often clashed with other farming communities over resources, including in Enugu state.
In March 2025, several Hausa hunters were killed in Uromi, Edo state by a mob also from the north. (Hausa and Fulani people broadly identify with one another.) The men were on their way to Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of Ramadan when they were attacked.
Since the attack, misinformation about Fulani herders attacking Igbos has been shared on social media.
But was a rocket launched into Enugu state? We checked.
False claim
We found no credible news reports of rockets fired in Nigeria. If it were true, the media would have reported it.
A rocket would wreak havoc on its target. There is no way this would have escaped the media and Nigerians' attention.
A full-blown attack by Fulani herders could potentially lead to a country-wide conflict between northerners and Igbos. The Nigerian government and security personnel have called for calm and launched an investigation to bring the killers to justice.
Africa Check also ran a reverse image search of three photos in the post.
One photo was found in a 2024 Facebook post by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (Lasema). The post says it shows a fire that broke out in a shop selling liquified natural gas at Iju-Ishaga, Lagos state.
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Another photo in the post is from a fire in an apartment in Lekki, Phase 1, in December 2024. Lasema reported that the fire was caused by an electrical power surge, and no lives were lost.
Additionally, one of the photos was found on a TikTok video posted in 2024. It's a screenshot from the video. There's no evidence that any of the photos show the result of a rocket attack in 2025.
The same claim was found here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
