Clip shows Nigerian border post reopening in 2022, not recently

“Idiroko Border Is Opened Tinubu Starting Well (sic)”, reads a TikTok post published on June 6, 2023.

The Idiroko border post is in Ogun state in southwest Nigeria, along the border with Benin.

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A screenshot showing the misleading post, taken on June 7, 2023

The post has been shared more than 3,900 times and includes a 21-second clip showing security forces opening what looks like a locked gate, while people cheer them on. “Idiroko” is inscribed on a wall.

The claim appeared elsewhere on TikTok as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

In the comments, some people praised Tinubu for reopening the border, while others warned the footage was old.

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A screenshot showing comments on the misleading post, taken on June 7, 2023

The claim that the clip shows the Idiroko border reopening on Tinubu’s orders is, in fact, misleading.

2022 border reopening

Using keyword searches, AFP Fact Check found the same footage (archived here) published in April 2022 – more than a year before Tinubu was sworn in as president in May 2023.

The clip shows security forces reopening the Idiroko border post on the orders of the federal government, then headed by Buhari (archived here).

Nigeria’s previous administration announced the partial shutting (archived here) of land borders on August 19, 2019.

According to Buhari, this was necessary to address trans-border security challenges including armed banditry, smuggling and proliferation of weapons (archived here).

Four of the land border posts were reopened in December 2020, while another four – including Idiroko – were reopened (archived here) in April 2022.

Bamidele Makinde, the head of the Nigerian Customs Service in Ogun state, was quoted by local newspapers on June 6, 2023 confirming the Idiroko border post was reopened in 2022 (archived here).

He added, however, that some border posts in Ogun state, like Imeko, Ohumbe, Ijofin and Ijoun, remain shut.