By Pascal Ibe

Claim

Many people on social media have shared a video of the Biafra agitators enforcing the sit-at-home order and claim it was recent.

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING.

Findings indicated that the video was first posted online on 30 July 2024 when these Biafra agitators were enforcing a Sit-At-Home order by their self-acclaimed Prime Minister, Simon Ekpa. Credible reports confirmed that the incident occurred in Nkwo-Orji, Owerri in Imo State.

Full Text

Many social media users have shared a video of suspected Biafra agitators enforcing a sit-at-home order and claimed that the incident occurred recently.

Those gunmen who have been linked to deadly attacks in Nigeria’s Southeast have always identified with Simon Ekpa as their leader.

Mr Ekpa, a Nigerian who is based in Finland, heads Autopilot, a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The Biafra agitator also founded the Biafra Defence Forces and Biafra Liberation Army, which are armed militant wings of the Autopilot IPOB.

On 28 October, an X user, @FemiOlawole, published this video and said that right now, the entire Southeast has been grounded economically and socially.

He wrote, “See Ibos(Igbos) killing each other in cold blood! Right now, the entire SE has been grounded economically and socially.

“Yet, Peter Obi, Obiageli Ezekwesili, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and other Ibo political leaders are turning deaf ears and pretending to be blind to the carnage going on in their homeland.

“And what if there was no SW or the North for their traumatized people to run to as refugees?

The post by @FemiOlawole generated over 130 views and more than 300 reposts on X.


On Instagram, Victor Java Karovich Omokaro posted the same video and claimed that this was the sit-at-home order by IPOB.

“What a pathetic situation the Igbos have found themselves. Why kill your own people.

You also see this claim here and here.

Verification

To find out if this was a recent video, this Fact Checker subjected keyframes from the video to a Google image reverse search and discovered that the video first appeared online on July 31.

FACTWATCH found out that a Facebook user, Yusking D Noble Guy, shared this video on his timeline on 31 July at 10 pm.

Also, @Mr__Pure on X posted the video on 01 August, with the caption “Owerri is fire“.

Connecting the Dots

Further findings by this Fact Checker showed that this video was a result of the four-day Sit-At-Home order by Mr. Ekpa to hinder the Southeast residents from participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests in August.

The Sit-At-Home order by Mr Ekpa was from July 29 to August 01.

A credible report confirmed that the incident in the incident video happened at Nkwo-Orji in Owerri on 30 July 2024.

The report stated that gunmen also killed a young man at Orji in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State.

The gunmen, who shot sporadically into the air while heading to Owerri-Enugu Road, also burned the Imo State Government Waste Management Agency vehicle at Nkwo Orji Market in Owerri North.

Eyewitnesses reported that the gunmen were shouting, “Stay in your homes. Don’t come out during the sit-at-home if you value your lives.”

“The traders and buyers scampered for safety, abandoning their wares and vehicles as they ran for their lives.”

Check similar publications that corroborated this report Here and Here.

Conclusion

Findings showed that this video that is being
recirculated as a recent incident, occurred in July.