A separatist group said images of Buhari arriving in Japan were fake. But AFP photos show he did attend Yokohama summit

One post from August 27, 2019, archived here, said footage and pictures used by reputable Nigerian media outlets of Buhari arriving in Japan for the summit were “fake photoshopped images and digitally altered videos”. 

The account, named after the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,  said that the media had been used “in the propagation of deliberate falsehood” that Buhari “is in Japan when clearly he was in Oman”. 

Another post here pushed by those sympathetic to IPOB claimed to show a flight log for the presidential jet showing it was flying to Muscat, Oman before heading to Japan. 

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A screenshot taken on September 2, 2019, showing a Facebook post claiming Buhari had not arrived Japan at a time he was being reported to have arrived

Many other posts claiming the same information have been shared on Twitter, Facebook and blogs in Nigeria. We archived some of them here, here, here, here, and here. 

Buhari actually was in Japan

Despite the various claims made in the posts, Buhari did indeed attend the summit with leaders from Africa and Japan. AFP pictures taken at the event on August 28 show Buhari smiling in a group photo with the other leaders and dignitaries at the event. A picture from the Imperial Household Agency of Japan also showed him at a meeting with Japan’s crown prince and princess.

Nigerian officials dismissed the claims that footage of Buhari’s arrival had been faked. Nigerian media also carried numerous reports and images showing the leader attending the summit and other events in Japan. 

An AFP video also shows Buhari in Yokohama, attending the conference.

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A screenshot taken on August 30, 2019 showing Buhari in an AFP Video recorded in Japan at TICAD7

In the past, IPOB had claimed that Buhari had died and was replaced by a lookalike called Jibril from Sudan. You can read the AFP fact-check on that story here.