Senegal: Video of People Attacking Nigerian Embassy in Senegal Is From 2013, Not 2024 As Social Media Posts Claim

27 September 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Denzel Amobi

Video of people attacking Nigerian embassy in Senegal is from 2013, not 2024 as social media posts claim

IN SHORT: In 2013, an angry crowd attacked the Nigerian embassy in Senegal. The incident did not take place in 2024, as suggested online.

A video of a crowd appearing to vandalise a building has been circulating on social media in Nigeria since late August 2024.

Part of one post reads: "Some stupid Nigerians in Darkar Senegal are destroying and vandalisng Nigeria Embassy's properties in Darkar. After all now Senegalese people will stated rejecting them for lack of morals and etiquette."

The video shows the group breaking windows and doors and destroying furniture. They are also smashing the windows of several cars and damaging Nigerian flags.

The video is overlaid with the text: "Wild crowd of IBO Biafrans attacked the Nigerian Embassy in Darkar Senegal. Beat Officials, Loot, Vandalised Properties, and Torn the Nigerian Flag."

Dakar is the capital of Senegal in West Africa.

The Igbo, or Ibo, are an ethnic group found mainly in southeastern Nigeria.

Biafra is a region in south-eastern Nigeria. Its secession in 1967 sparked a 30-month civil war that ended in Biafra's defeat. Sympathisers continue to call for its independence.

The video has also been posted here, here, here and here.

But does it show people vandalising the Nigerian embassy in Senegal in 2024, as the posts suggest? We checked.

Old video

Africa Check entered keywords from the claim into Google. We found that the Nigerian news station Channels Television reported on the incident in March 2013.

Another 2013 report by Nigeria's Premium Times said the embassy was vandalised by a group of Nigerians living in Senegal.

"The about 36 Nigerians who took part in the vandalisation of the embassy were protesting what they considered the poor treatment of the corpse of a murdered member of the Nigerian community in Senegal."

The Premium Times report proved that the incident was not related to calls for Biafra's independence.

While some people in the video chanted "Iwe, iwe, iwe", an Igbo expression often used to convey anger, we found no evidence to support the claim that the attackers were all Igbos. Such claims could inflame ethnic tensions.

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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