Nigerian separatists share misleading clip to drive campaign for independence

Published on September 16, 2025 at 15:20
5 min read
By Samad UTHMAN, AFP Nigeria

Supporters of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have repeatedly used disinformation to advance their secessionist cause in southeastern Nigeria. A video of a woman addressing an armed officer with a loud hailer has been shared as evidence of Biafrans rising up and taking over a state in the region. However, the claim is misleading; the video shows a small protest led by a former gubernatorial candidate in Anambra state demanding justice for a young man who was allegedly abducted and killed for refusing to rape his sister.

“Breaking: Biafrans gradually taken over their state in Ikemba. United States of Biafra USB is a Sovereign state and the delegitimized governors must leave Biafraland. Soludo should peacefully leave Biafraland. The People are rising and coming (sic),” reads the caption of an X post published on August 17, 2025.

Screenshot showing the misleading post, taken on September 8, 2025

The post includes a three-minute video showing a small group of protesters, one of them with a loud hailer, demonstrating outside a big gatehouse entrance. Armed officials approach them to intervene.

Shared more than 500 times, the post was published by an account called “Ngozi Orabueze”, a self-proclaimed “deputy prime minister” of the “United States of Biafra USB”.

Biafra is the proposed republic in southeastern Nigeria where IPOB is seeking independence (archived here).

Members of IPOB and those sympathetic to its cause refer to themselves as Biafrans.

Calls for a separate state of Biafra remain a hot-button topic in Nigeria more than 50 years after Chukwuemeka Ojukwu declared independence in Nigeria’s southeast in 1967. This was followed by a brutal 30-month civil war (archived here).

“Ikemba” is the name IPOB has assigned to one of three new states it wants to replace the current Anambra state (archived here).

However, the claim about the video showing a Biafran uprising is false.

Anti-insecurity campaign

Using Google Lens to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip, AFP Fact Check found the original video published on Instagram on August 16, 2025 — two days before the claim circulated on X (archived here).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by H.E Chioma Grace Ifemeludike (@ifemeludike_)

In the video, posted by an account called “H.E Chioma Grace Ifemeludike,” a woman wearing an orange beret introduces herself to a police officer as Chioma Ifemeludike, identifying herself as the chairperson and governorship candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the state’s November election.

Using a megaphone, she demands to see Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra state. Other protesters in the video, while holding a large banner, chant: “Insecurity rises every day in Anambra” and “Demand justice for Emmanuel and his sister.”

“Yesterday, we marched to the Anambra state government house to demand justice for Emmanuel Chinecherem Igwe, a young boy who was killed in the most gruesome manner,” reads the caption of the original post.

Graphic comparing the Instagram video (left) and the video on X, taken on September 8, 2025

A comparison between the account name and the details mentioned in the clip confirms that Ifemeludike is the woman in the orange beret who owns the Instagram account. Her August 13, 2025, campaign post further corroborates this (archived here).

Using keywords from the caption to run an internet search, AFP Fact Check was led to a news article published by Sahara Reporters, which describes how a boy named “Emmanuel” was allegedly abducted alongside his sister in Anambra (archived here).

Sahara Reporters based its article on an X post from popular human rights activist Harrison Gwamnishu, who drew the public’s attention to the alleged crime (archived here).

The posts claim Emmanuel was allegedly killed by his captors after refusing an order to sexually assault his sister. Police have yet to confirm any specifics about the incident. AFP Fact Check will update this report if we receive comment from the authorities, as requested.

Ifemeludike had published a post inviting “concerned citizens and media representatives to join a peaceful protest at the New Government House in Awka, today being Friday 15th August” (archived here),

While Google Maps does not provide a street view of the address, a photo of the facility uploaded in May 2025 bears a strong resemblance to the building visible in Ifemeludike’s video.

Comparison of the state government house (left) and a screenshot from Ifemeludike’s video

The building was inaugurated for use by the governor as his office and residence in May 2025. Initially called “Government House Awka”, the name was changed to “Light House Awka” the following month (archived here and here).

The video of Ifemeludike’s protest does not, therefore, show her “rising up” and “taking over” the state in the name of IPOB.

Click here to read more AFP Fact Check debunks related to IPOB.

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