I first saw it on a friend’s WhatsApp status: a short clip of police officers scattering as a drone hovered above them, with an Arise News anchor’s voice reporting on it in the background.
I was stunned and laughing at the same time. But right after the laugh, a more serious thought hit me. If that thing overhead had actually been a suicide drone, or one of those “Shahed”-style attack drones we keep hearing about in conflict zones, then scattering that fast would have been exactly the right instinct.
Except none of that happened.
The video is real footage, but the story attached to it is false. And here’s what actually happened.
What the Viral Claim Said
A video began circulating widely in late August 2026, claiming to show police officers in Osogbo, Osun State, fleeing in panic after a passerby flew a drone over them during a roadside stop.
The clip shows men in police uniform scattering in different directions as a small drone hovers overhead. It spread quickly because the story attached to it was almost too satisfying to ignore.
According to the viral version, the officers had stopped a motorist, allegedly demanding the usual roadside “settlement”. A passerby supposedly responded by sending a drone into the air to record the encounter and scare the officers away.
The footage appeared to show exactly that.
But it wasn’t what it looked like.
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What Actually Happened
The Osun State Police Command rejected the claim, while an independent fact-check by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) traced the footage to a Yoruba movie, Omije Fun Omije 2.
The movie was produced by Solomon Damilare and directed by Wasiu Owoiya, known in the industry as Jekanmon and Gausu. The film was shot in May 2026 and was available on YouTube from June 26.
According to the police command, the production used a real police patrol vehicle as a prop for a scene. An actor dressed in police gear was briefly left standing outside the moving vehicle before running after it and getting back inside.
A bystander who was not part of the film crew recorded the scene.
That short piece of footage was then separated from its original context and presented online as evidence of police officers fleeing from a drone.
From there, the claim took on a life of its own.
The Osun State Police Command, through its Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, disputed the interpretation and said the footage had been misrepresented.
The command stated that the claim that serving officers had “run away” from a drone was misleading and damaging to the reputation of the police.
In other words, what appeared to be a dramatic roadside confrontation was actually a scene from a movie.
So Where Did the Drone Story Come From?
This is where the incident becomes particularly interesting.
The footage itself was genuine. What was false was the explanation attached to it.
That distinction matters because misinformation doesn’t always require someone to create a completely fake video. Sometimes an authentic photograph or video is simply given a false date, location, identity, or explanation.
Once that happens, viewers who have no access to the original context can easily believe what they are seeing.
That appears to be what happened in Osogbo.
The person who recorded the footage may have captured a real scene without knowing its full context. Once it was posted online with the drone story attached, other users and media platforms began sharing the version they encountered.
By the time many people saw it, the original context had effectively disappeared.
Why So Many People Believed It
The most interesting part of this story isn’t actually the drone.
It is why the story felt believable.
Nigeria already has a long history of public complaints about roadside police stops, extortion allegations and confrontations between motorists and law enforcement officers.
So when Nigerians saw a video apparently showing police officers running away from a drone, many people did not stop to ask whether the footage had been independently verified.
The story fitted something they already believed could happen.
That made it powerful.
The drone itself added another layer. Drones are no longer unusual pieces of technology, and military conflicts around the world have made people increasingly aware that an aircraft hovering overhead can represent something more serious than a camera.
Put those two things together, and the video had all the ingredients needed to go viral: police, alleged extortion, technology, panic and a dramatic ending.
It looked believable because the story surrounding it felt familiar.
That is one of the biggest problems with misinformation.
A completely absurd story is often easy to reject. A misleading story built around something people already believe is much harder to detect.
The Danger of Sharing Before Checking
The incident also raises a bigger question about how Nigerians consume breaking news on WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, X and other platforms.
A dramatic video can travel thousands of kilometres within minutes. By the time someone asks where it came from, hundreds of people may already have shared it.
The pressure to be first often becomes stronger than the desire to be accurate.
And once a false claim has been repeated enough times, people begin to treat repetition as evidence.
This is particularly dangerous when the subject involves the police, elections, ethnic tensions, religion, crime or public safety. False information in those areas can create anger and panic far beyond the original post.
In this case, the video could easily have reinforced existing hostility toward the police.
That does not mean legitimate complaints against law enforcement should be ignored. It means genuine allegations deserve genuine evidence.
A fake explanation attached to real footage does not help anyone seeking accountability.
The Takeaway
As of the reporting examined for this story, there is no verified evidence that police officers in Osogbo fled from a civilian-operated drone during a roadside stop.
The footage being circulated is from a Yoruba movie, Omije Fun Omije 2, and was filmed months before the viral claim emerged.
So if you have seen the clip shared as real news, the important correction is simple:
The footage is real. The story attached to it is not.
Remember that distinction the next time a dramatic video lands on your WhatsApp.
Before sharing, ask a few basic questions:
• Who originally recorded the video?
• Where was it actually filmed?
• When was it filmed?
• Has the location been independently confirmed?
• What did the people or organisations involved say?
• Can a reputable news organisation or fact-checker verify the claim?
Sometimes, five minutes of checking can completely change the story.
And in the age of viral videos, that five-minute pause can be the difference between sharing news and spreading misinformation.
Sources
- Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), “Fact-Check: ‘Police Officers’ Did Not Run From Flying Drone. Incident Happened on Movie Set”
- Chronicle NG, “Police Deny Viral Video of Officers ‘Fleeing From Drone”
- NewsclickNG, “Police Debunk Viral Video of Officers Allegedly Fleeing From Drone in Osun”
- 21st Century Chronicle, “Our Officers Didn’t Run Away From Drone in Osun — Police”
- Tori.ng, “Osun Police Debunk Viral Video Claim After Officers Allegedly Flee Drone”
