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Claim: An X user shared a post showing military officers allegedly maltreating Igbos.
Verdict: MISLEADING! The picture is an old footage from September 2017.
Full Text
A long history of conflict and strife has marked the quest for independence in the Southeast regions. One such strife is the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970).
Despite the end of the war several decades ago, agitation for an independent State by The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group in the Eastern region, has persisted, driven by feelings of marginalization and a desire for self-determination.
In light of this, an X user, DJ spoiltkid (@spoilkid), on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, shared a picture showing people alleged to be IPOB members lying helplessly in mud-soaked water guarded by soldiers around them.
The post reads, “Nigerian soldiers on duty in the southeast. Igbos will learn a lesson for being the most peaceful region in Nigeria.”
As of June 8, 2024, the post had amassed over 8,000 views, 290 likes, 209 reposts, eight quotes, and seven bookmarks.
Some users condemned the inhumane act in the comment section, while others labelled the picture old.
“This evil has to stop,” (@Testimonytalks1) wrote.
Another user (@chukswalterr) said, “This is an old picture, and I don’t think it’s nice to be posting this and hitting up tensions.”
Meanwhile, (@chukwudikossy) wrote, “This happened in (the)east but not recently(.) It has been long.”
The sensitive nature and virality of the post prompted DUBAWA to verify the claim’s authenticity.
Verification
DUBAWA subjected the picture to Google Reverse Image Search. Results show that a similar background video was posted on Facebook on Sept.15, 2017.
Searching further, we came across a 2017 X post by @trafficbutter showing the complete video of the incident.
In the video, the alleged IPOB members were instructed by soldiers to lie on the floor shirtless with their flags placed in front of them.
Afterwards, they crossed to the other side of the road, where soldiers guarded the area and threw them into muddy water.
Further investigation shows reports corroborating the maltreatment of IPOB members by alleged Nigerian soldiers by some credible media outlets.
On Sept 14, 2017, Vanguard reported on an ongoing investigation into a video showing soldiers humiliating IPOB members. Meanwhile, that same day, The Cable also reported the same incident.
However, a Google search revealed no recent report from a credible media outlet projecting the claim.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that the video is old and has been online since 2017, making the X user’s claim false.
