The call for Biafra’s independence from Nigeria, led by the Indigenous People of Biafra, seems to have taken root online with a number of websites pushing the separatist agenda.
One site claims the leaders of the US, Russia, Israel and France have all endorsed Biafra as a sovereign state. It says the information comes from a United Nations report but does not say which one or when it was released.
The article by the Pointer News has been shared more than 800 times on Facebook.
“It remains two nations, like Britain and Germany to sign, then Biafra can go, we almost there,” the article says.
It’s illustrated with a photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A reverse image search shows that the photo was taken in the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, in December 2018, when Netanyahu announced the date of the country’s 2019 elections.
Africa Check has found no evidence indicating that the governments of any of these countries have supported Biafra in this way.
In response to our email enquiry, the US embassy in Nigeria said “the report is fake news”.
We’ve already debunked a number of Biafra-related hoaxes on Facebook, some of which have earned us the wrath of supporters.
These include one that said the US and Russian had pledged to support Biafra, another claiming that Netanyahu had said an independent Biafra would overtake Nigeria as the giant of Africa and one that the World Bank was setting up a central bank for Biafra. – Allwell Okpi (31/05/19)
One site claims the leaders of the US, Russia, Israel and France have all endorsed Biafra as a sovereign state. It says the information comes from a United Nations report but does not say which one or when it was released.
The article by the Pointer News has been shared more than 800 times on Facebook.
“It remains two nations, like Britain and Germany to sign, then Biafra can go, we almost there,” the article says.
Unconnected Netanyahu photo
It’s illustrated with a photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A reverse image search shows that the photo was taken in the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, in December 2018, when Netanyahu announced the date of the country’s 2019 elections.
US embassy says it’s ‘fake news’
Africa Check has found no evidence indicating that the governments of any of these countries have supported Biafra in this way.
In response to our email enquiry, the US embassy in Nigeria said “the report is fake news”.
We’ve debunked similar claims
We’ve already debunked a number of Biafra-related hoaxes on Facebook, some of which have earned us the wrath of supporters.
These include one that said the US and Russian had pledged to support Biafra, another claiming that Netanyahu had said an independent Biafra would overtake Nigeria as the giant of Africa and one that the World Bank was setting up a central bank for Biafra. – Allwell Okpi (31/05/19)
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