A news article emanating from The Sun claimed that a United Nations and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) research report unveiled 24 terrorist cells in Katsina as well as named their leaders. The news report which was published on January 25, 2023, also stated that the state had a total of 2,295 terrorists with Damburun having 385 terrorists populating the forest camp located in Kankara Local Government Area.
The report comes days after its recent training for journalists in the Katsina state. The training sought to enhance the capacity of journalists to advocate for transitional justice as a means of reconciliation, resolution, and peace-building.
The news report by The Sun was also published by another media Prime Time news with a similar headline. CDD War Room embarked on an investigation to determine the veracity of the claim.
Claim: CDD unveils 24 terrorist cells, lists the number of terrorists in Katsina
Verification
CDD War Room spoke with Sulieman Kura, a professor at the Usman Dan Fodio University Sokoto. Kura is the author of the report being cited and acted as one of the facilitators at the training organised by the CDD. Kura confirmed that during the training, the mention of terrorist cells as well as the total number of terrorists in the state were cited. However, he noted that the news report misappropriated the quote.
According to him, both the cells and figures were from a report which was published over three years ago and was cited during the training and the presentation of the report as a background to what was being discussed. He further confirmed that the report presentation was done via PowerPoint as the report had not been officially published.
Kura also explained that the figures and mappings cited were all contained in the previous report which was in the public domain and hence was not part of his recent research. Consequently, the CDD released an official statement debunking the newspaper report, while stating that the news report was “used out of context and there was nowhere such a tantalizing statement appeared in CDD’s 175-page draft report.”
Verdict: Misleading
The report by The Sun was taken out of context in a way which suggested that the report being released by CDD revealed the presence of terror cells in Katsina. The presenter at the capacity building session merely referred to a three year old report, which is in public domain.
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