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Claim: Omoyele Sowore shared an old image of the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, accusing him of waving Boko Haram’s flag alongside Tukur Buratai, former Chief of Army Staff.
Verdict: Misleading. The image depicts Mr Buhari and Mr Buratai posing for a photograph following the presentation of the Boko Haram flag recovered by the military in Sambisa Forest in 2016.
Full Text
The #EndBadGovernance protest, expected to be peaceful, has gone out of hand in northern Nigeria with several reports of casualties, vandalism and looting of public and private properties. Notable from this nationwide protest is a trend of protesters who began to fly the Russian flag in Kano and Kaduna.
While the Russian government has bluntly distanced itself from this situation, the Nigerian military has said that individuals flying Russian flags in Nigeria are committing treason and will be prosecuted.
Reacting to this development, Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist and a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) party, countered the Nigerian army, suggesting that the actions of carriers of Russian flags should not be considered a treasonable felony. He posted three images on X and Facebook, with one showing the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, and Tukur Buratai, former Chief of Army Staff, holding the Boko Haram flag.
Mr Sowore wrote, “This is what should have been considered as TREASON/TREASONABLE FELONY @MBuhari and his Chief of Army Staff Buratai waving Boko Haram Flag!”
Already viewed by over 157 thousand users, Mr Sowore’s post has sparked a new wave of controversy on X, attracting several conflicting comments.
Given the high-profile individuals involved and the serious nature of the allegation, DUBAWA decided to conduct this verification.
Verification
We reverse-searched the image, and the results linked it to a Jan. 2, 2017, ceremony where President Buhari was presented with a Boko Haram flag.
The flag was retrieved from Camp Zero in the Sambisa Forest on Dec. 22, 2016, following a breakthrough by the Nigerian Army against the terrorist group. It was handed over to him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
While presenting the flag to the president, Mr Buratai emphasised that capturing this flag symbolised a defeat against insurgency.
“Your Excellency, you’re aware that the capture of a flag in the military indicates the defeat of the opponent,” he told the president.
As broadcasted by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which covered the event, the duo posed for pictures (holding the unwrapped flag) afterwards.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s findings show that Mr Sowore’s post is misleading and out of context. The image shows President Buhari and the former Chief of Army Staff taking photographs after being presented with the Boko Haram flag in 2017.
