By Pascal Ibe

Claim

An X user, @USBiafraFirst, has shared a video of a funeral in northern Nigeria alongside the claim that it was all about the death of the former president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

Verdict

The video post by the X user is MISLEADING. Investigation showed that this was a video of the funeral of Hajiya Safara’u Umar Radda, mother of Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda held in March 2025.

Full Text

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has repeatedly claimed that former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari died in 2017 and was replaced by a body double from Sudan named “Jubril Al-Sudani.”

Despite numerous public appearances by Buhari since 2017 and his re-election in 2019, Kanu and his followers continued to propagate the claim. Legal experts have noted that such a claim typically falls under defamation, a civil matter, and would only be considered in a criminal case if it led to a breach of peace and violence. The Nigerian government’s charges against Nnamdi Kanu, which include terrorism-related offenses, have not included the claim about Buhari’s death.

Buhari had since refuted the claim.

On 3rd July, it was reported that Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is receiving medical treatment in London.

The former president, who left office on 29 May 2023 after serving two terms, has been abroad since April. According to sources close to his family, Mr Buhari initially travelled to the United Kingdom for what was described as a routine medical check-up, but subsequently took ill.

Reacting to this, an X account promoting Biafran agitation, @USBiafraFirst has published a video of a funeral in northern Nigeria alongside the claim that it was all about the death of the former president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

The video shows prominent Northerners who gathered for a funeral with a caption from the X account that reads, “They finally unveil the death of Muhammad Buhari.

Many people questioned the authenticity of the video as the post has garnered 85k with over 295 likes and more than 147 reposts, according to X analytics.

Verification

FACTWATCH Nigeria subjected keyframes from the video to Google Image Reverse Search to verify this claim.

Results from the Google Image Reverse Search showed this video was posted by a social media influencer and a politician, Umar Awana Mustapha, who first shared this video on 23rd March 2025 on his Facebook page.

Mustapha shared the video in March with a press release which confirmed that the video was the funeral of Hajiya Safara’u Umar Radda, mother of Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda.

Instagram and other Facebook pages published this video in March here and here.

Premium Times also reported in March that the Governor of Kano State, Kabir Abba Yusuf, and his Jigawa State counterpart, Umar Namadi, joined numerous dignitaries to pay final respects to Hajiya Safara’u Umar Radda, mother of Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda.

The burial rites, which took place on Sunday at Radda Village in Charanchi Local Government Area, also had prominent government officials and traditional rulers in attendance.

Check this similar report here.

Conclusion

The video shared by a Biafran agitator on the X platform was to reignite misinformation about ex-president Buhari’s false death.