Kenya: Viral Video Doesn't Show Protest in Nigeria for Nnamdi Kanu's Release but Is From Kenya

29 October 2025
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Precious Ewuji

Viral video doesn't show protest in Nigeria for Nnamdi Kanu's release but is from Kenya

IN SHORT: A video has been posted on social media with the claim that it shows a protest organised by Nigerian human rights activist Omoyele Sowore. But the video is from Kenya.

On 20 October 2025, human rights activist Omoyele Sowore organised a protest in Abuja, Nigeria, calling for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.

Sowore is a Nigerian politician and journalist who ran for president in the 2023 elections on the African Action Congress ticket.

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Kanu is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or Ipob, a separatist group seeking to reestablish the Republic of Biafra in southeastern Nigeria.

Kanu was first arrested in October 2015 on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony, among others.

He has been in custody since June 2021, when he was re-arrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria to continue his trial.

Despite an Abuja federal high court restraining Sowore and four others from holding protests in certain parts of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, the protests went ahead, with arrests and teargassing by the Nigerian police reported.

In this context, several Facebook posts have shared a viral video, claiming it shows the protest organised by Sowore in Abuja. The minute-long video shows a large crowd of people running on the expressway as a helicopter hovers above them.

One 20 October post reads, in part: "This is what Sowore single-handedly pulled in Abuja today in protest for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. Only haters of humanity will fault him or hate him for this."

But does this video show the protest in Abuja? We checked.

Video from Kenya

First, Africa Check spotted a TikTok watermark in the video and traced it using the handle @geramwai. The original video was captioned "captured the moment just outside our office...RIP Baba".

We saw a signpost in the video with an inscription: "The Standard Group Plc". We Googled this phrase to find that this is a multimedia company in Kenya. It would indicate that the video was shot in Kenya, not Nigeria.

We read the comments and concluded that the caption was referring to Kenyan politician Ralia Odinga, referred to as "baba" or father, who died in India on 15 October.

Odinga's body arrived at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Thursday, 16 October. Thousands of mourners walked to the airport to pay tribute to him and thronged the roads along which the convoy carrying his body passed.

The public viewing of Odinga's body was initially planned to be at Moi Stadium but was moved to Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium to accommodate large crowds.

The widely circulated video has nothing to do with the protests in Abuja, Nigeria. It likely shows crowds of Kenyans paying tribute to the late Raila Odinga.

More posts claiming this video shows protests in Abuja can be found here, here, here, here, here, 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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