Nigeria: Ignore Misleading Posts Claiming Former Nigerian President Buhari and Former Army Chief Buratai Were 'Waving' Boko Haram Flag

22 August 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Denzel Amobi

Ignore misleading posts claiming former Nigerian president Buhari and former army chief Buratai were 'waving' Boko Haram flag

IN SHORT: In 2017, the Nigerian army forced Boko Haram militants out of their forest enclave. Then Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai presented the president with the Boko Haram flag as a sign of victory over the group's insurgency. Online posts claiming that Buratai and former president Muhammadu Buhari waved the flag in support are misleading.

"This is what should have been considered as TREASON/TREASONABLE FELONY Muhammadu Buhari and his Chief of Army Staff Buratai waving Boko Haram Flag! #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria," reads a Facebook post dated 5 August 2024.

The post features three images, one of which shows former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and former Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai holding the Boko Haram flag. Buhari was Nigeria's president from 2015 to 2023.

Boko Haram is an Islamist movement and a terrorist group. Its violent activities have been reported in parts of northern Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim.

Anti-government protests took place across Nigeria from 1 to 10 August. Tagged #EndBadGovernance on social media, the protests were sparked by the rising cost of living.

Similar posts can be found here, here, here and here.

But is there any truth to the claim? We checked.

Image interpreted out of context

A Google reverse image search of the photo led us to a video posted by NTA News on YouTube on 2 January 2017. It was captioned: "President Buhari Receives Abubakar Shekau's Captured Boko Haram Flag."

According to the video's description section, Buhari received the flag after the army dislodged Boko Haram militants from their stronghold known as "camp zero" in the Sambisa forest in northern Nigeria.

Presenting the flag to Buhari, Buratai said the capture of the flag was a victory against insurgency.

It is therefore misleading to claim that Buhari and Buratai were "waving" the Boko Haram flag in support of the movement. It was handed to Buhari to celebrate the defeat of Boko Haram militants.

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

Tagged:
Copyright © 2024 Africa Check. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.