{"id":19356,"date":"2024-07-15T15:26:15","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T14:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=19356"},"modified":"2024-07-15T15:26:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T14:26:18","slug":"simon-ekpas-claim-nigerian-army-only-has-islamic-schools-misleading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/simon-ekpas-claim-nigerian-army-only-has-islamic-schools-misleading\/","title":{"rendered":"Simon Ekpa\u2019s claim Nigerian Army only has Islamic schools, misleading"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: An X user, Simon Ekpa, claimed<\/a> that the Nigerian army has a school of Islamic Affairs but has none for the Christians in the army.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict: Misleading! DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that both the Islamic and chaplaincy schools exist for the Nigerian Army students of both religions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket<\/a> operated by the Tinubu-led administration since the last general election in Nigeria, the issue of religious intolerance and ethnic bigotry have sparked debates and led to heated tensions that gained global momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not far away from the issue, Simon Ekpa,<\/a> a factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), recently wrote on X that the Nigerian Army has established a school for Islamic Affairs but does not have such for Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a picture attached to his post, uniformed military officers are seen sitting outside a blue-painted building with an inscription that reads, \u201cNigerian Army School of Islamic Affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with the post, he wrote, \u201cIf not that we are declaring Biafra on December 2nd, I would have asked those idiots from the South to show me Nigeria terrorist @HQNigerianArmy School of Christian Affairs, because there is none. It is Haram!\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of this writing, data available on the post shows that the claim has been viewed by over 179,000 social media users, with 3,293 likes, 2,600 reposts, and 88 bookmarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the comment section, some users intensified their calls for the Biafran movement, while others challenged the post’s credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou must follow Simon Ekpa and share\/repost his tweets in accordance. He is bringing a new dimension to this struggle. #MNK Thank you so much, our able Prime Minister, sir,\u201d @Mazi_Win_Win asserted.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another user, @DOlewunne<\/a>, stated: \u201cNigeria is an Islamic place. That’s why we fight for Biafra. Biafra is not an Islamic Nation. God is helping Biafra to the end, All Must Hail Biafra.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, @RukayyaBauchi<\/a> wrote: \u201cIt does exist, actually. Check your source again, Mr Prime Minister.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA identified the need to investigate the claim due to its engagement with the X application and its sensitivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To verify the claim, we conducted keyword searches to determine if credible sources have once reported the existence of the Christian equivalent of the training school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We came across information on the official website of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos<\/a>, which establishes that there is a Nigerian Army Chaplaincy (RC) Training School in Ojo, Lagos State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A screenshot of the webpage. Photo Source: Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also, DUBAWA subjected the attached photo to a Google Reverse Image Search. We came across a report by the Independent<\/a> newspaper titled \u201cWhy Nigerian Military Is Operating School Of Islamic Affairs\u2014DMO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the report, the Director of Defence Media Operations (DMO), Mr Edward Buba, clarified that the school was built to develop and strengthen the capacity of military men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emphasising the importance of spirituality, he clarified that the military school also has a chaplaincy school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe military does not only have the School of Islamic Affairs; we also have the Chap\u00adlaincy School. Being military men does not make us not to be spiritually inclined,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, we came across a media report by Vanguard newspaper,<\/a> debunking the viral claim that the Nigerian Army only runs a school of Islamic Affairs while leaving other religions aside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report clarifies that there is a chaplaincy school for Christian sects in Lagos State, including the Nigerian Chaplaincy Training School, Ojo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we contacted Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director of Army public relations, for comments. Describing the claim as unfounded, Mr Nwachukwu told DUBAWA that it is \u201cdead on arrival\u201d as the Nigerian Army has provided training schools for both religions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Nigerian Army has the Nigerian Army Protestant Training School in Yaba and Chaplain Catholic Training School in Ojo Cantonment; they are for Christian sects,\u201d he told DUBAWA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A group picture of Nigeria Army Protestant Training School. Photo Source: Onyema Nwachukwu\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our findings show that Islamic and chaplaincy school affairs contradict the X user’s claim.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: An X user, Simon Ekpa, claimed that the Nigerian army has a school of Islamic Affairs but has none for the Christians in the army.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Verdict: Misleading! DUBAWA\u2019s findings show that both the Islamic and chaplaincy schools exist for the Nigerian Army students of both religions. Full Text With the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket operated by the Tinubu-led administration since the last general election in Nigeria, the issue of religious intolerance and ethnic bigotry have sparked debates and led to heated tensions that gained global momentum. Not far away from the issue, Simon Ekpa, a factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), recently wrote on X that the Nigerian Army has established a school for Islamic Affairs but does not have such for Christians. In a picture attached to his post, uniformed military officers are seen sitting outside a blue-painted building with an inscription that reads, \u201cNigerian Army School of Islamic Affairs.\u201d Along with the post, he wrote, \u201cIf not that we are declaring Biafra on December 2nd, I would have asked those idiots from the South to show me Nigeria terrorist @HQNigerianArmy School of Christian Affairs, because there is none. It is Haram!\u201d   As of this writing, data available on the post shows that the claim has been viewed by over 179,000 social media users, with 3,293 likes, 2,600 reposts, and 88 bookmarks.  In the comment section, some users intensified their calls for the Biafran movement, while others challenged the post’s credibility. \u201cYou must follow Simon Ekpa and share\/repost his tweets in accordance. He is bringing a new dimension to this struggle. #MNK Thank you so much, our able Prime Minister, sir,\u201d @Mazi_Win_Win asserted. Another user, @DOlewunne, stated: \u201cNigeria is an Islamic place. That’s why we fight for Biafra. Biafra is not an Islamic Nation. God is helping Biafra to the end, All Must Hail Biafra.\u201d Also, @RukayyaBauchi wrote: \u201cIt does exist, actually. Check your source again, Mr Prime Minister.\u201d DUBAWA identified the need to investigate the claim due to its engagement with the X application and its sensitivity.  Verification To verify the claim, we conducted keyword searches to determine if credible sources have once reported the existence of the Christian equivalent of the training school.  We came across information on the official website of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, which establishes that there is a Nigerian Army Chaplaincy (RC) Training School in Ojo, Lagos State. Also, DUBAWA subjected the attached photo to a Google Reverse Image Search. We came across a report by the Independent newspaper titled \u201cWhy Nigerian Military Is Operating School Of Islamic Affairs\u2014DMO.\u201d In the report, the Director of Defence Media Operations (DMO), Mr Edward Buba, clarified that the school was built to develop and strengthen the capacity of military men. Emphasising the importance of spirituality, he clarified that the military school also has a chaplaincy school. \u201cThe military does not only have the School of Islamic Affairs; we also have the Chap\u00adlaincy School. Being military men does not make us not to be spiritually inclined,\u201d he said. Further, we came across a media report by Vanguard newspaper, debunking the viral claim that the Nigerian Army only runs a school of Islamic Affairs while leaving other religions aside.  The report clarifies that there is a chaplaincy school for Christian sects in Lagos State, including the Nigerian Chaplaincy Training School, Ojo.  Finally, we contacted Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director of Army public relations, for comments. Describing the claim as unfounded, Mr Nwachukwu told DUBAWA that it is \u201cdead on arrival\u201d as the Nigerian Army has provided training schools for both religions.  \u201cThe Nigerian Army has the Nigerian Army Protestant Training School in Yaba and Chaplain Catholic Training School in Ojo Cantonment; they are for Christian sects,\u201d he told DUBAWA.  Conclusion Our findings show that Islamic and chaplaincy school affairs contradict the X user’s claim.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,3812,3815,119],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3803],"class_list":["post-19356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-headline","category-homepage","category-security"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-52c","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3803,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"mohammed-taoheed","display_name":"Mohammed Taoheed","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Army.jpg?fit=679%2C451&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19358,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19356\/revisions\/19358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19356"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=19356"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=19356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}