Boko Haram brutality? No, photo triggers ethnic remarks but is from Nigerian movie set
This article is more than 4 years old
A Facebook post claims Boko Haram militants are cutting the limbs off Nigerian soldiers.
It shows a man in a military uniform, with a bloodied leg. On the ground next to him is what looks like the severed part of his leg, still in its boot. Another man wearing a checked headscarf is crouched behind him.
The caption reads: “This is what Bokoharam is doing To Nigeria soilders in Sambisa forest and Burutai is busy deploying Nigeria soilders to the Southeast for checking of Identity card.”
Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai is Nigeria’s army chief. Sambisa Forest is in Borno state, in the north-east of the country, where Boko Haram, a militant Islamic terrorist group, has been active.
Some comments on the post stoke the ethnic tension between Nigeria’s Igbo people, who are primarily Christian, and the Hausa community, who are mostly Muslim.
But does the photo show a recent Boko Haram attack on Nigerian soldiers?
The uniformed man isn’t a soldier – he’s Yakubu Mohammed, a popular actor from northern Nigeria.
Mohammed even commented on the Facebook post. He said: “This is me in the picture and it is a movie set ‘Operation Last Dance’.”
He posted other photos and a video from the movie set on Instagram.
Mohammed told Africa Check the movie was shot in September 2019 and would be released in 2020. It was filmed in Kaduna state in north-west Nigeria.
The movie was “sponsored by the Nigerian army to showcase the effort been made to bring back peace” to the north, he said. It “was shot under the close supervision of the Nigeria military personnel”.
It shows a man in a military uniform, with a bloodied leg. On the ground next to him is what looks like the severed part of his leg, still in its boot. Another man wearing a checked headscarf is crouched behind him.
The caption reads: “This is what Bokoharam is doing To Nigeria soilders in Sambisa forest and Burutai is busy deploying Nigeria soilders to the Southeast for checking of Identity card.”
Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai is Nigeria’s army chief. Sambisa Forest is in Borno state, in the north-east of the country, where Boko Haram, a militant Islamic terrorist group, has been active.
Some comments on the post stoke the ethnic tension between Nigeria’s Igbo people, who are primarily Christian, and the Hausa community, who are mostly Muslim.
But does the photo show a recent Boko Haram attack on Nigerian soldiers?
Photo taken during filming of movie
The uniformed man isn’t a soldier – he’s Yakubu Mohammed, a popular actor from northern Nigeria.
Mohammed even commented on the Facebook post. He said: “This is me in the picture and it is a movie set ‘Operation Last Dance’.”
He posted other photos and a video from the movie set on Instagram.
Mohammed told Africa Check the movie was shot in September 2019 and would be released in 2020. It was filmed in Kaduna state in north-west Nigeria.
The movie was “sponsored by the Nigerian army to showcase the effort been made to bring back peace” to the north, he said. It “was shot under the close supervision of the Nigeria military personnel”.
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