Nigeria: No, U.S. Youtuber IShowspeed Was Not Attacked in Lagos

12 February 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Muktar Balogun

No, US YouTuber IShowSpeed was not attacked in Lagos

IN SHORT: Africa Check found that the viral photo showing a bruise on IShowSpeed's face was digitally edited. A review of his livestream shows no attack, and the original image was taken at a restaurant where he was holding a plate of jollof rice. The red mark was added to create a false narrative.

Darren Watkins Jr, widely known as IShowSpeed, has been attacked by road gang members in Nigeria, according to posts on Facebook.

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Watkins is a popular US-based YouTuber, online streamer and internet personality known for his energetic live streams and videos.

One post from 22 January 2026 reads: "iShowSpeed was reportedly attacked by road gang members in Nigeria while livestreaming along Ikoyi Road. Visiting a country where cases of child kidnapping are reported daily, and where the police and security agencies often fail to protect citizens, was clearly not a wise decision."

The post includes images of Watkins with a bloody bruise on his face.

Watkins undertook a 28-day tour of Africa starting on 29 December 2025 in Angola. Nigeria was reportedly one of his key stops.

While in Lagos, he hit 50 million subscribers on YouTube, which he celebrated live on video.

The claim that Watkins was attacked by gang members while livestreaming was also found here, here, here and here.

But is this accurate? We checked.

Digitally altered image

Africa Check reviewed the livestream video uploaded on the IShowSpeed YouTube page. At no point in the video was Watkins attacked while moving around Lagos.

There was also no media coverage of any attack by any credible news platform. Watkins was followed around by people, and there would have been more than enough eyewitnesses to the attack if it were true.

Instead, we found that the images circulating on Facebook appear to be screenshots from the livestream taken while Watkins visited what appears to be a restaurant, edited or photoshopped to make it seem he had a bruise on his face.

The images match the moment when he was given a plate of jollof rice while standing out of the sunroof of a car.

He is not bruised or bloodied. The images have been manipulated to provide false evidence for a false claim.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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