No proof that US authorities raided house allegedly belonging to Nigerian president in Washington DC
IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claimed that law enforcement agents raided a house belonging to Nigerian president Bola Tinubu in the US capital of Washington DC, on US president Donald Trump's orders. But we found no evidence that Tinubu owns a house in the US or that Trump gave such an order.
A "breaking news" report circulating on Facebook claims that authorities have raided a house belonging to Nigerian president Bola Tinubu in the US capital of Washington DC.
According to the report, the order to raid Tinubu's house came from US president Donald Trump.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
While the report claims the raid is a "fictional scenario" in the first paragraph, it states it as fact in the headline: "Breaking News: Federal Agents Raid Home of Nigerian President Tinubu in Washington Following Trump Directive."
It goes on to say: "According to security sources, operatives claimed to have discovered $300 billion, several classified documents, and what they alleged to be 'records of past payments linked to insurgent groups,' dating back eight years. One official said: 'We were shocked by the volume of documents found. Some files even contained draft notes predicting the outcome of the 2027 presidential election'."
It also includes a link where users can supposedly find "full details" about the raid.
In late October 2025, Trump characterised Nigeria as a "country of particular concern", citing what he called Christian persecution. Trump also ordered the US army to prepare to go to Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups, who he said were "slaughtering" thousands of Christians.
A "country of particular concern" is a designation for a country engaged in severe violations of religious freedom under the US's International Religious Freedom Act.
But the Nigerian government denied Trump's claims, stating that insecurity affected people from all religious groups.
The same claim about a "raid on Tinubu's Washington house" was found here, here and here.
But is it true? We checked.
No evidence to support it
Trump's comments on Nigeria, and any reaction to them, have received wide media coverage. If he had given such an order, the media would have also covered it. But Africa Check found no credible news reports on this.
We clicked on the link in the posts and it led us to an unrelated website that made no mention of Trump, Nigeria or Tinubu.
The posts feature photos, including two of people leaving a house with boxes. According to a reverse image search, those photos were taken in June 2024 when Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided the home of Sheng Thao, the mayor of Oakland, a city in the US state of California, at the time.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The FBI is a US government agency that investigates crimes such as terrorism.
While Tinubu has been linked to several properties outside of Nigeria, we found no proof that he owns a house in Washington DC.
We found no evidence to support this claim.
