{"id":1375867,"date":"2022-03-14T12:53:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T16:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1375867"},"modified":"2022-03-14T12:53:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T16:53:33","slug":"fact-check-are-thousands-of-nigerian-mercenaries-going-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-are-thousands-of-nigerian-mercenaries-going-to-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Are Thousands Of Nigerian Mercenaries Going To Ukraine?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-are-thousands-of-nigerian-mercenaries-going-to-ukraine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1375867&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A video\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/isaac.manulevu\/videos\/991069758181109\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/isaac.manulevu\/videos\/991069758181109&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1647105984275000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3-EmS8QNroK5MvmrFYRwP6\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims at least 5,000 Nigerian mercenaries and 200 Nigerian soldiers are going to Ukraine to fight Russia.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence Nigeria is sending soldiers or mercenaries to Ukraine. A spokesperson for the Embassy of Ukraine in Nigeria said there are no Nigerians going to fight in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated over 16,000 foreigners have registered for Ukraine\u2019s International Legion since the conflict in his country began, Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/foreign-fighters-ukraine-offers-purpose-camaraderie-cause-2022-03-07\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>. At the same time, Putin has approved the use of volunteer foreign fighters on the Russian side, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2022\/03\/11\/war-in-ukraine-putin-approves-use-of-volunteer-foreign-fighters-from-the-middle-east\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EuroNews<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A video shared on Facebook shows footage of armed men conducting military training and is paired with a caption that reads, \u201cNigeria Sends Over 5,500 Military Forces to Ukraine.\u201d Audio in the video states \u201cat least 5,000 mercenaries and 200 special forces from Nigeria have decided to enlist in Ukraine,\u201d citing the Ukrainian Embassy in Nigeria as the source of the information.<\/p>\n<p>Check Your Fact did not find any credible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=nigerians+ukraine+mercenaries&#038;source=lnms&#038;tbm=nws&#038;sa=X&#038;ved=2ahUKEwi0i6Kdyb72AhU0hHIEHbpBAQ8Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&#038;biw=1440&#038;bih=821&#038;dpr=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news reports<\/a> about Nigerian mercenaries or soldiers deploying to Ukraine to fight. The Ukrainian International Legion\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/fightforua.org\/\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website<\/a> does not have any information about Nigeria or Nigerian volunteers. There are likewise no press releases from the <a href=\"https:\/\/nigeria.mfa.gov.ua\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embassy of Ukraine in Nigeria<\/a> announcing the deployment of Nigerian troops or mercenaries in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"il\">\u201cZero<\/span> Nigerians are going to fight for Ukraine,\u201d said a spokesperson for the Embassy of Ukraine in Nigeria in an email to Check Your Fact. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2022\/03\/08\/fact-check-has-steven-seagal-joined-russian-troops\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(FACT CHECK: HAs Steven Seagal Joined Russian Troops In Ukraine?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a March 7 press release on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NigeriaMFA\/status\/1500737382374641666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1500737382374641666%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.com%2Fen%2Fukraines-bid-to-recruit-fighters-from-africa-sparks-uproar%2Fa-61049323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a> stating it would not \u201ctolerate\u201d the recruitment of Nigerian citizens as mercenaries.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja<br \/>_________________________________<br \/>PRESS RELEASE <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Wylxe8YSl9\">pic.twitter.com\/Wylxe8YSl9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddec (@NigeriaMFA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NigeriaMFA\/status\/1500737382374641666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cNigeria discourages the use of mercenaries anywhere in the world and will not tolerate the recruitment, in Nigeria, of Nigerians as mercenaries to fight in Ukraine or anywhere else in the world,\u201d reads part of the press release. The release does note that \u201ca number\u201d of citizens had approached the embassy and expressed willingness to be deployed to Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A video\u00a0shared on Facebook claims at least 5,000 Nigerian mercenaries and 200 Nigerian soldiers are going to Ukraine to fight Russia.Verdict: FalseThere is no evidence Nigeria is sending soldiers or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1375867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1375867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1375867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1375867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1375867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}