By Pascal Ibe
Claim
An X user, @DeAfrcanUnion1, shared an image of the Burundi president Evariste Ndayishimiye with an attached Biafran logo badge on his cloth and Russia’s Vladimir Putin together and claimed the two leaders met to endorse Biafra’s agitation.
Verdict
The photo shared by the X user was altered. A Tineye Image Reverse Search showed that the original picture of the two leaders was at the Africa-Russia summit in 2023 which has nothing to do with Biafra agitation endorsement.
Full Text
In a desperate move to feed their gullible and ignorant followers, these so-called Biafra agitators go to any extent. They can go as far as manipulating the images and videos of world leaders to depict that they have gotten their support.
Not different from what these mischief-makers have been doing for a long time now, one of them, @DeAfricanUnion1 on X, shared a photo of the Burundi president, Evariste Ndayishimiye with an attached Biafran logo badge on his cloth and Russia’s Vladimir Putin and claimed the two leaders met to endorse Biafra’s agitation.
The X user posted the image with a caption that reads, “We’re going home Biafrans.
The post generated over 7k views and more than 100 reposts.
Other Biafra agitators who don’t even know the personality in the photo with Russia’s Putin hailed the post as “a great move.”
Verification
This FactChecker subjected this image to Tineye Image Reverse Search and the results showed that it was the Burundi president and Russian leader at the Africa-Russia summit in 2023.
Sorting by oldest on Tineye, the image first appeared online on 27 July 2023.
A closer look at the results of original images from Tineye indicated that there was another badge (not the Biafra logo badge) on the cloth of the Burundi president.
A credible report, which corroborates the Tineye results, stated that at the meeting, Putin said Russia and Burundi have prospects for increasing bilateral cooperation; a package of agreements is expected to be signed, including on nuclear energy.
Speaking at a meeting with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the Russian leader described the east-central African nation as Moscow’s trusted partner in Africa. The two countries marked 60 years of diplomatic relations in 2022 and “reenergized their political contacts this year,” Putin said.
Russian consumer rights watchdog chief Anna Popova traveled to Burundi for talks in February. Burundi’s Foreign Minister Albert Shingiro came to Sochi for talks in March, while Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov returned the courtesy in May in what was the first-ever visit of its kind.
See a similar report here
Conclusion
In his desperation, the user altered the image of the Burundi president and Russia’s Putin to deceive his followers. Therefore, it’s MISLEADING.
