Claim
A recent post online says the State Security Service (SSS) office in Abuja has issued an alert to Nigerians in the South and North central, with focus on Lagos, Ilorin and Rivers state, claiming that Boko Haram had deployed fighters to these locations.
The claim read: “SSS office Abuja BREAKING NEWS! Security alert!! Privileged information reveals the mass arrival of BOKO HARAM Fighters to Southern /North centralNigeria, especially to LAGOS/ ILORIN and RIVERS States”.
Full Text
“SSS office abuja BREAKING NEWS! Security alert!! Privileged information reveals the mass arrival of BOKO HARAM Fighters to Southern /North centralNigeria, especially to LAGOS/ ILORIN and RIVERS States. We have been advised to take urgent and adequate security measures in Churches, especially on Sundays and in places with large gathering such as markets, shopping malls, cinemas, parks. etc. This is y millitary patrol teams has been rooled out to mount strategic points in d states nd cities mentioned Pls pass on to other friends & family members, especially those residing in PH, ilorin and Lagos. News is that our enemy is planning something bigger than Nyanya bomb blast in Abuja. Mind ur movement and be careful, the place is still unknown. Pls pass round to save ur love ones. May God help us & save our country. Pls the message is from a reliable source in the UN office, dont disregard, pls share. These are d police control numbers of each state in Nigeria, kindly call for rapid response to any criminal incident:
Abia – 08035415405.
Admwa- 08089671313.
AkIbom – 08039213071.
Anmbra -07039194332.
Bauchi – 08151849417.
Bayelsa – 07034578208.
Benue – 08066006475.
Borno – 08068075581.
C-River – 08133568456.
Delta – 08036684974.
Ebonyi – 07064515001.
Edo – 08037646272.
Ekiti – 08062335577.
Enugu – 08032003702.
FCT – 07057337653.
Gombe – 08150567771.
Imo – 08034773600.
Jigawa 08075391069.
Kaduna – 08123822284.
Kano – 08032419754.
Katsina – 08075391255.
Kebbi – 08038797644.
Kogi – 08075391335.
Kwara 07032069501.
Lagos – 07055462708.
Nasarwa 08123821571.
Niger – 08081777498.
Ogun – 08032136765.
Ondo – 07034313903.
Osun – 08075872433.
Oyo – 08081768614.
Plateau – 08126375938.
Rivers – 08032003514.
Sokoto – 07068848035.
Taraba – 08140089863.
Yobe – 07039301585.
Zamfa – 0810658012
Please forward this to your loved ones NOW. Information reaching Police indicates that: There is a syndicate of criminals selling beautiful key holders at Public Places, Airports, Petrol Stations. They sometimes parade themselves as sales promoters giving out free key holders. Please do not buy or accept these key holders no matter how beautiful they look.
The key holders have inbuilt tracking device chip which allows them to track you to your home or wherever your car is parked. The key holders are very beautiful to resist. Accepting same may endanger your life. All are therefore requested to pass this message to colleagues, family members and loved ones. Be on guard.
Alert everyone.
Regards
Please share this info with all your family members and friends.
……. (Sent as received).”
Verification
Due to the virality of the claim and the panic it could trigger, we decided to fact check the content.
First, we found that the claim, which is riddled with typos, is a new version of one published in 2020 on the Citizen AY facebook page. It has 24 likes, 6 comments and 69 shares.
To get the old version of this message, we copied a few lines of the message and posted it on Google with the prompt, get the first time this message was published and also add a link to the publication. It pulled out the information in the image below.
Also, we found that the claim has routinely resurfaced several times on Facebook, the latest sets of publication happening between May 24 to 28, 2026, here, here, here and here.
Also, we made an attempt to verify the numbers added to the claim, and found that they were numbers put in public domain by the police in the past.
Furthermore we found that the numbers were copied from a publication made by the police on its official Facebook page.
However, while there is no official statement published by the DSS or SSS regarding this claim, the security agency had debunked the claim in the past and it was published here.
According to the publication, the DSS says “the viral message did not emanate from the Department of State Service (DSS)/State Security Service (SSS) and that citizens should [sic] “disregard the message, as complete fake news.”
Verdict
The claim circulating and claiming that Boko Haram fighters have been deployed to some parts of Nigeria is false and should be disregarded. While the numbers in the routinely circulated claim are lifted from Police sources, the message is not from the SSS.
