In August 2024, Simon Ekpa and the Biafra Republic Government in Exile ordered a 30-day lockdown of the Nigerian government institutions in the Southeast region from August 28 to September 26, excluding private businesses. This action responds to the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu and the alleged killings of Christians and Biafrans. Ekpa demands Kanu’s release and the withdrawal of Nigerian security forces from the region.
Simon Ekpa has been a strong follower of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) before he (Kanu) was arrested and detained by the Nigerian government in 2021.
The latest lockdown ordered by Simon Ekpa has claimed many lives, especially the security operatives.
The terrorists acting on Ekpa’s order have also set ablaze Local Government Council Headquarters and Police stations in Imo and Anambra.
To show the continuous insecurity in Southeast Nigeria, Simon Ekpa’s disciple posted a video and claimed it was a recent incident.
@akparawasunny , the self-acclaimed minister for information of the Biafra Republic Government in-Exile (BRIGE) shared the video on 5th September 2024, and said, “So DPO jumped fence again today but this time the fence was too high for him to climb successfully.
The post garnered over 155k views and more than 1k reposts as of Saturday morning.
A YouTube channel, CWorld posted this same video few days ago and asked people to check on their loved.
FactWatch also observed this video has been forwarded many times in different WhatsApp groups recently.
Verification
This Fact Checker subjected key frames from the video to Google Image reverse search and discovered that the incident happened in July 2021.
Results from the Google search showed that many Facebook accounts and blogs shared the video first in 2021.
When this Fact Checker traced further, reports by many credible news organizations in Nigeria confirmed that this video was related to the attack incident in which the Chairman of Nigerian National League side, Udala FC, Philip Udala, was killed and remains burnt by unknown gunmen Anambra State.
According to the report, The gunmen had reportedly attacked a local police station and were fleeing the scene when they met the convoy of Udala in Abatete.
See other news publications that also reported this incident Here and Here.
Verdict
This video shared by @aparawasunny on X as recent incident is MISLEADING.
Simple findings indicated that it occurred in Anambra in 2021.
