Fact Check: Is It True Biafra Flag Was Hoisted on President Buhari’s Car During Imo Visit?
Claim: A Facebook user, Prince Emmydon Emeka, posted a short video on the social media platform claiming that the Biafra flag was spotted on President Muhammadu Buhari’s car during his visit to Imo state.
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Verdict:
The claim is false. The flag hoisted on the president’s car is one of the official presidential flags which symbolises his office and position as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Source: Facebook
Full Text
On Thursday, September 9, President Muhammadu Buhari visited Imo state where he commissioned some projects and met with southeast leaders.
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The presidential visit comes amid the re-arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Thus, before the president’s visit, there were speculations that Kanu’s loyalists issued a sit-at-home order to protest the detention of the embattled secessionist leader.
However, the president’s visit witnessed no security breach as he commissioned some infrastructural projects and met with stakeholders in the region as scheduled.
Meanwhile, around 3.07pm on Thursday, a video of the president’s convoy surfaced on Facebook accompanied by a voice-over claiming that the Biafra flag was hoisted on his car.
The voiceover claimed there are a Biafran flag, a Nigerian flag and the Nigerian Coat of Arm on the president’s vehicle.
The voice questioned:
“What is that Biafran flag doing on this Toyota Land Cruiser...can someone explain that to me?”
The video which was posted by one Prince Emmydon Emeka has been shared over 1,000 times with over 100 comments at the time of filing this report.
Verification
To verify the claim, Legit.ng took a closer look at the flags on the president’s car, as seen in the video, and compared them with the Biafra flag.
This newspaper also double-checked by looking at the flags via a high-quality video of the visit posted on Facebook by one of the president’s aides, Tolu Ogunlesi.
Source: Facebook
Additionally, a live video of the presidential visit by BBC News Pidgin shows the car in question with a green white green flag on the left side and the other flag (erroneously referred to as the Biafra flag) on the right.
The flag in question has four colours (red, black, white, and green).
Contrary to Emeka's flag, the flag symbolises the president’s office and position as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, presidential Ogunlesi explained.
The flag is usually displayed alongside the common Nigerian flag behind the president’s seat during official proceedings as seen in the picture below:
Source: Facebook
Unlike the flag hoisted on the president’s flag, the Biafra flag has only three colours, red, black and green.
Also, the black colour on the Biafran flag features a golden rising sun which is not present on the flag hoisted on the president’s car.
The Republic of Biafra was a secessionist state declared in 1967. It led to a civil war that ended in 1970. Though the republic had ceased to exist, IPOB supporters still use the flag as they renew the call for succession.
Conclusion
The claim that the Biafran flag was hoisted on the president’s car during his Imo visit is false. The flag on the president’s flag is one of Nigeria's official flags. It symbolises president’s office and position as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
IPOB’s sit-at-home order did not affect Buhari’s visit - Uzodimma
Earlier, the governor of Imo state, Uzodimma, said the sit-at-home directive had no effect on President Buhari’s visit to the state.
Uzodinma noted that the order was only observed on social media platforms, adding that the residents of the state were excited about the president’s visit and that they came out to welcome him.
Legit.ng gathered that the governor and other southeast leaders said they were pleased with the president's visit.
Source: Legit.ng
