Nigeria: No Evidence Video Shows Nigerian Soldiers in Armoured Tanks Heading for an Operation in Abia State

2 July 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Denzel Amobi

No evidence video shows Nigerian soldiers in armoured tanks heading for an operation in Abia state

IN SHORT: A video of Nigerian soldiers leaving what appears to be a military base is making the rounds on social media. But we have found no evidence to support claims that they were on their way to an operation in Abia state.

A Facebook post claims that the Nigerian military is heading out to an operation in the city of Aba in Abia State.

As evidence, the 7 June 2024 post features a video of military trucks and armoured tanks leaving what appears to be a military base.

The post reads: "If your Brother is in Aba tell him to be careful Biafra liberation are is waiting for them to arrive."

Biafra is a region in south-eastern Nigeria. Its secession in 1967 triggered a civil war. After the 30-month war, which ended in January 1970, the region was reintegrated into Nigeria.

The Nigerian military has threatened to put pressure on the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a group seeking the restoration of Biafra, after five soldiers were killed in Abia state in May.

In September 2017, the Nigerian government banned Ipob and labelled it a terrorist organisation.

The same video and claim have been posted here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of the report.)

But does the video show Nigerian soldiers heading out to an operation in Aba? We checked.

Video is old

A Google reverse image search of keyframes from the video shows that it was posted to TikTok in May 2024. Users in the comments section of the post claim that the video is from 2018.

In the first few seconds of the video, the man speaking in the background mentions that the soldiers are on their way to an operation in Metele, in the north-eastern state of Borno.

A closer look at the military vehicles shows the logo of Operation Lafiya Dole, which was renamed to Operation Hadin Kai in 2021. It is a counter-insurgency operation, mainly against the Islamist group Boko Haram, which operates in the north of the country.

A Google search for the phrase "Nigerian army in Metele in 2018" brought up several news reports from reliable media outlets. They reported that Boko Haram had killed dozens of soldiers at a military base in the area.

While this does not prove that the video is connected to the 2018 attack on Nigerian soldiers in Metele, it does show that the video is not from 2024.

The video and claim also appear here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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