Back to Africa Check

No, Israel’s ex-prime minister Netanyahu hasn’t called for Biafra’s independence from Nigeria

“Biafra is due to stand as a Nation,” reads a quote attributed to Israel’s former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a graphic posted on Facebook. The graphic shows a photo of Netanyahu, and a logo reading “BY NEWS” at top left.

Biafra was a region that roughly correlates with Nigeria’s south-east geopolitical zone today. In May 1967, Biafra declared its independence from the rest of the country. A civil war followed, ending in January 1970 with Biafra’s defeat.

There are continued calls for Biafran independence, most notably by the Indigenous People of Biafra secessionist movement.

But has the former prime minister of Israel publicly called for Biafra’s independent nationhood?

Benjamin_False

No reports, no headlines

We found no evidence that Netanyahu said this. There are no official reports or statements from Israel in which he calls for Biafra being “due to stand as a nation”.

If Netanyahu had come out in support of Biafra’s independence, it would have made headlines. There are none.

The quote is false.

Africa Check has fact-checked a similar post claiming that Netanyahu had said Biafra would take over from Nigeria as the giant of Africa. 

Another claims the US, Russia, Israel and France “approve” Biafra’s separation from Nigeria. We found no evidence of that, either.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Further Reading

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.