|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: An X user shared a video purportedly showing a crowd of “African Christians” fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency.
Verdict: False! Contrary to social media users’ assertions, our findings show that the video shows Congolese locals fleeing an insurgency-ridden Sake region in Congo, not Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria.
Full Text
For more than a decade, Nigeria has been battling with Boko Haram terrorism, which has defied several military and security force-driven measures to end it. Both factions of the criminal group, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have shown their resilience in their activities as they extend operations to countries in the Lake Chad Basin.
In light of the developments, an X handle, identified as Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali), posted a video clip of an unspecified number of people, suggesting that they are Christians of African descent who are fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency in the continent.
In the video, people are seen with their belongings, walking towards a location, and communicating in their native language.
A part of the post’s caption made on May 29, 2024, reads: “WATCH: African Christians are fleeing Boko Haram radical Islamists. Thousands are dead, many more uprooted. They’re Christians, but no one seems to care. No protests in London and no resolution in the UN.”
As of the time of filing this report, the post had been viewed over 300,000 times, amassing over 20,000 likes, 12,000 retweets, and 1,000 comments on X.
The post has received many reactions from users, some believing the narrative while others are questioning its veracity.
An X user, Paul King, wrote: “This is truly a tragic time for Christians. We Christians support Israel 100%, but we remain silent about Africa.”
Another user, @Freedompedia, said, “The world doesn’t care because a Jew is not involved.”
“May God curse you for the lies you tell. Those are not Nigerians, the language they speak is none of ours and your lies have been exposed,”@IdrisAOni1 commented.
Due to the sensitivity of the claim and the engagement’s traction, DUBAWA resolved to fact-check it.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted reverse image searches of keyframes taken from the footage and found results suggesting that the video originated from Congo.
Also, we found an earlier version of this video, which was posted on X on February 19, 2024. On the top left angle of the video, we noticed that the happenings in the footage are linked to Eastern Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
With this information, we scoured online media reports. We found that the people in the video are Congolese locals who are “the thousands going on the road right now” due to the ongoing conflict between the Congolese army and the March 23 movement (M23), a rebel military group.
Since February, there has been a conflict between the Congolese army and the armed group M23, who are at war over the control of the country’s rich minerals. The conflict has intensified in the eastern part of the country, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes as the rebels make territorial gains.
Additionally, DUBAWA contacted independent journalists in Congo. In an interview, Alfred Ntumba, the head of Environnews in Congo, stated that the video is about “the war in the eastern part of Congo, in Sake Territory.”
“So the people are leaving their homes because of the army rebel group M23 approaching this city. There has been an army conflict in this region for (two) years. This one is about mineral resources,” Mr Alfred confirmed to DUBAWA.
Fidèle Kitsa Tukinalwa, a journalist with Congo Check, shared a similar view to Alfred’s. He explained that locals in the state are fleeing because of the war between the state and the rebel group.
“I just watched the video; it’s in DR Congo. In fact, I live in this region. It’s in Sake, almost 28 kilometres from Goma, the city where I live. People were fleeing the fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels,” he said.
“These people were fleeing fighting between the Congolese Army and M23 rebels accused of being supported by Rwanda. Various religions are in this video, including Muslims and Christians, as they fled the fighting en masse.
“They are also fighting for reasons linked to mineral resources. It’s already been three years since this M23 rebel group took up arms in eastern DRC,” he added.
We also confirmed that the language spoken in the video is Swahili, one of the four national languages in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Finally, DUBAWA searched the internet using keywords related to Congo and Boko Haram, but there were no results. We contacted HumAngle’s conflict journalist, Abiodun Jamiu, who mentioned that the Boko Haram issue “is only present in Lake Chad and some parts of the Sahel region, not Congo.”
Conclusion
Like claims previously debunked by DUBAWA here and here about Congo, this footage is unrelated to the Boko Haram insurgency against Christians. Available and credible news outlets have not reported such a development in Congo, and findings by DUBAWA and interviews with on-the-site journalists in Congo show that the claim is false.
