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- In Nigeria’s southeast, a separatist uprising is rocking the Igbo-majority portion and astatine the aforesaid clip putting autochthonal Muslims astatine risk
- The Biafra movement, mostly driven by loud, breakaway agitators successful the diaspora are notorious for spreading falsehoods arsenic facts
- Amid rising information concerns, this Legit.ng's peculiar study showed that pro-Biafra disinformation machines person launched a run of targeted attacks connected a conception of the Igbo taste group
Legit.ng writer Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has implicit 5 years of acquisition covering the intersection of Africa’s conflict, quality rights, and geopolitics.
Warning: This study whitethorn incorporate beardown connection arsenic good arsenic graphic images which whitethorn beryllium disturbing to immoderate people. Reader discretion is advised.
Awka, Anambra authorities - In a quiescent neighbourhood successful Igbo Eze South section authorities country (LGA) of Enugu, successful Nigeria’s restive southeast, Siraj Ugwu connects with chap Muslims to workout their close of state of thought, conscience and religion.
A “full-time Da'awah practitioner” from Alor-Agu community, Ugwu leverages the societal media property to propagate Islam, the religion of astir 446 cardinal radical successful Africa and much than 1.8 cardinal worldwide.
Source: Twitter
He posts multimedia items showing his activities connected X (formerly Twitter). But state of belief, erstwhile a bold awesome of devotion to a Supreme Being, is being tactically hampered nether the sting of intimidation. What utilized to beryllium a people of unalloyed idiosyncratic condemnation has somewhat go a load to societal media-savvy Muslims.
“Just 1 kanoooom, each these would buss dust. Start to relocating (sic) to the North earlier our USB authorities completed (sic) the subject recruitment. Here successful Biafraland (referring to the southeast region) we don't dainty cancer, we chopped them off,” Edu Nwa Biafra, with the X grip @chine4u, tells Ugwu while commenting connected a pictorial by the latter, the threatener's code tinged with confidence. “We don't request your useless Islamisation.”“Kanoooom” arsenic utilized by @chine4u infers the dependable of a weapon oregon an improvised explosive instrumentality (IED) detonation, portion “kiss dust” alludes to decease resulting from killing.
The USB authorities helium mentioned is the acronym of the United States of Biafra, a expected governing assemblage associated with Simon Njoku Ekpa, a now-detained Finnish-Nigerian separatist leader. Ekpa leads ‘Autopilot’, a faction wrong the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is warring for a breakaway authorities successful south-eastern Nigeria.
Source: Twitter
Biafra, a transnational movement, has dyed-in-the-wool secessionists scattered crossed the globe - Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), USA, Finland, et al.
Source: Facebook
The Finnish Central Criminal Police arrested Ekpa connected November 21, 2024, with Lateef Fagbemi, Nigeria’s attorney-general, disclosing successful May 2025 that the African nation's authorities is moving intimately with the authorities successful the European state to extradite the controversial Biafra agitator. Ekpa, a erstwhile Nigerian athlete, is expected to beryllium repatriated for prosecution implicit offences allegedly committed done the usage of societal media, particularly X. His activities person been said to undermine Nigeria’s nationalist information and sovereignty.
To study connected this story, this newsman spent a period observing the societal stigmas Igbo Muslims look practicing their preferred religion successful crisis-hit southeast states. Correspondingly, interviews with cardinal stakeholders and apical experts of African extraction and integer forensics were conducted to find the scope of the breach.
Perusing dozens of X tweets from accounts with ties to Ekpa, IPOB, and the Biafran movement, disinformation, bigotry, and threats troublingly emerged arsenic marked features.
The threats—potent—have warned Igbo Muslims to either renounce Islam oregon look consequences.
Source: UGC
Tweets from a coordinated web of accounts targeting Ugwu with threatening messages tin beryllium seen here, here, and here. (Note: See much instances listed astatine the extremity of this report.)
“These threats are usually framed arsenic 'protecting Igbo culture', but successful reality, they make fear. They person profoundly affected my regular life—I person to beryllium cautious astir wherever I go, however I dress, and adjacent what I accidental successful nationalist for fearfulness of being targeted,” Ugwu, a subordinate of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), told Legit.ng.
Source: Original
Ugwu joined X successful 2013, but hatred code against Igbo Muslims spiralled since the level became much permissive towards definite arguable online behaviours.
He archetypal became alert of the hazard done a threatening connection shared successful a WhatsApp group. His archetypal absorption was that of confusion.
“I wondered wherefore idiosyncratic would privation to harm others simply due to the fact that of their faith. But with time, I began to recognize that ignorance and misinformation are the roots of specified hatred,” said Ugwu.Farooq Kperogi, a US-based Nigerian prof of journalism, faulted X proprietor Elon Musk's explicit committedness to little stringent moderation, contending that ‘this determination by xAI framed arsenic a pursuit of escaped code has inadvertently fostered an situation wherever threats, hatred speech, misinformation, and harassment person luxuriated’.
“Numerous credible reports and autarkic analyses corroborate spikes successful harmful and threatening rhetoric, indicating that diminished oversight often undermines idiosyncratic information alternatively than enhancing unfastened dialogue,” Prof. Kperogi lamented during an exclusive assemblage with Legit.ng. “Previously, verification conferred astatine slightest partial credibility. Users mostly viewed verified accounts arsenic trustworthy sources owed to the stringent checks conducted by Twitter. That is not the lawsuit anymore.”
Source: Facebook
Although they are a minority, Ugwu and respective of his tribesmen were calved Muslims. But Ekpa-inspired Biafra 'media warriors' walk disconnected claims connected societal media astir Islam being an abomination successful Igboland.
“I was calved into a Muslim family. My begetter who became Muslim agelong earlier 1930 told america what drew him to Islam was the clarity, structure, and accent connected justness and peace. The Quran’s connection resonated profoundly with him, likewise me.
Source: Twitter
Barrister Isa Uthman Tochukwu, Besira Ugochi Abdullahi, and Abia-born Ifeanyi AbdulRahman, are different Igbo Muslims who separately confirmed to Legit.ng that they are Muslims by birth—nullifying the assertion that being a Muslim is alien to Nigeria’s southeast region.
For Ugwu, helium is convinced his taste individuality and religion complement each different finely.
He explained: “My religion guides my narration with God and chap quality beings, portion my civilization shapes my worldview and societal interactions. Islam encourages respect for one's civilization arsenic agelong arsenic it doesn't contradict halfway spiritual teachings.”Elaborating connected the situation faced successful a predominantly Christian Igbo community, Ugwu stated that societal exclusion and stereotyping are common.
“Some radical automatically presume I'm nary longer "Igbo enough" due to the fact that of my faith,” said Ugwu amid beardown concern. “Even attending household functions tin beryllium emotionally draining due to the fact that I often person to support my individuality and beliefs.”Like Ugwu, Barrister Tochukwu, an indigene of Igbo Eze South LGA of Enugu state, is an ardent X user. More than 26,000 radical travel him. Tochukwu has experienced his ain stock of threats, abuse, and harassment.
“On my X page, you volition spot respective threats coming from my people; Igbos from the southeast. But successful my community, Alor-Agu, we don’t really person a occupation due to the fact that relatives person divers spiritual affiliations.”
Source: Facebook
Tochukwu added:
“Religion is simply a idiosyncratic thing. It is adjacent constitutionally guaranteed nether Section 38 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution.”To beryllium harmless from unforeseen dangers, threats oregon risks, Ugwu has go much security-conscious, avoiding nationalist displays of his religion successful definite places. He besides reports immoderate unsafe threats to instrumentality enforcement agents, particularly the police.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s the world for now,” helium lamented.Dangerous magnitude of Biafra movement
The bloody civilian warfare successful Nigeria lasted from 1967 to 1970. Since then, the quest for the attainment of Biafra has been comparatively peaceful. But recently, a dependable drift towards unit crept into the struggle.
A statement by the Nigerian Army disclosing that troops raided an IPOB campy successful Abia authorities connected June 13, 2024, and recovered, among others, an AK-47 rifle, tin beryllium seen below:
The violence, allegedly carried retired by Biafra rebels with allegiance to the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Biafra Liberation Army (BLA), has stoked fears. In Anambra South senatorial territory of Anambra authorities for instance, insecurity perpetrated by separatist elements forces residents to enactment indoors each Monday to protestation against perceived marginalisation and request the merchandise of hugely-influential Biafra separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Source: Original
In what is simply a bizarre twist, respective individuals among those pushing for Biafra ‘because Nigeria is discriminating against them’ are the ones besides exhibiting prejudice towards radical who represent nary harm.
Since 2021, the separatist struggle has claimed astatine slightest 1,155 lives, according to a report by Al Jazeera successful January 2025.
Journalist Fredrick Nwabufo who present works with Nigeria’s leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, arsenic elder peculiar adjunct connected nationalist engagement, commented connected the brutality often linked to the protracted Biafran campaign.
A past unfortunate of separatists’ threats himself, helium described their activities arsenic “murderous”.
In the aforesaid vein, Prof. Kperogi pointed retired that online hatred code can crook into offline hatred crimes arsenic Biafra secessionists' threats could represent a genuine menace.
“The intentional circulation of demonstrably mendacious and malicious accusation against minorities, successful this lawsuit Igbo Muslim minorities, is often the precursor to systematic wide murder. As the saying goes, genocide begins with words. When hatred code is repeated aggregate times against radical who are excessively fewer oregon excessively symbolically invisible to combat back, it tin alteration into a manifesto for wide slaughter,” the student warned.Prof. Kperogi is not acold from the truth. On November 10, 2021, Ogoegbunam Ifeanyichukwu Aniekwena (also known arsenic Achika General), a younker person successful Ogidi municipality successful Idemili LGA of Anambra state, was gunned down by suspected IPOB separatists aft helium simply opposed the sit-at-home exercise.
Source: Facebook
A 2022 BBC investigation blamed his sidesplitting connected a Facebook Live done by Nneka Igwenagu, a UK-based "media warrior" warring for the Biafran cause.
In a broadcast from London, she targets a younker radical successful Anambra, which had been resisting unit from IPOB for radical successful the portion to unopen down businesses and schools successful solidarity with Kanu.
Kanu is presently being held by Nigerian authorities and faces panic charges, which helium denies.
Speaking successful Igbo, the astir wide spoken connection successful south-eastern Nigeria, Ms Igwenagu refers to them arsenic "chickens", saying: "All of you are not expected to beryllium alive… A chickenhearted that ate its eggs, don't you spot it is not expected to live?"
A fewer weeks aft the broadcast, Aniekwena, the person of the younker radical she was referring to, was changeable and killed. No 1 has been charged implicit his death.
In October 2021, the location of Joe Igbokwe, a salient chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was razed successful his autochthonal Nnewi, Anambra state. Igbokwe pinned the blasted connected IPOB proponents, pursuing respective threats helium received. Lagos-based Igbokwe had been 1 of the fiercest critics of Kanu and IPOB's online activities.
Since the attack, Igbokwe has elected against travelling location implicit fears for his life.
Aishat Obi, the commissioner representing Southeast successful the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), shared that women were the premier targets owed to their Islamic dress, and were taxable to hostility that stemmed from the civilian war. The unsuccessful secessionist rebellion ended successful 1970, but immoderate wounds are yet to heal with resentment harboured towards the Muslim Hausa-Fulani assemblage from the north, which dominated the authorities astatine the time.
"They spot you arsenic a saboteur," Ms Obi told BBC. “Even wrong a conveyance oregon connected a motorcycle, they telephone you 'Hausa person’.”
Source: Facebook
There are cases of attacks connected Muslims and mosques successful the region.
As pinpointed by Obi, hijab-using Muslim women are apical connected the database of those exposed to danger.
In May 2022, a heinous assault 1 would not adjacent privation connected one's worst force happened successful Anambra erstwhile a heavily-pregnant Harira Jibril, 32, and her 4 children aged betwixt 2 and 9 years aged were gunned down successful acold humor - without immoderate provocation.
Ahmed, the widower, narrated what happened to Daily Trust: “They were coming backmost location aft she visited her sister who was surviving successful the adjacent town. She and the 4 children were each wearing hijabs; that was wherefore the gunmen targeted them.”Fact checking anti-Muslim rhetoric by Biafra campaigners
Anti-Muslim rhetoric perpetuates hatred and marginalisation wrong nationalist discourse. Permitting this threatens antiauthoritarian values and inclusivity.
Taking this into account, we fact-checked immoderate of the comments made connected the leafage of 1 of the astir salient Igbo Muslims connected X - Ugwu.
‘Islam is banned successful Biafraland’
A verified account, @TochiNna, posted thus connected April 11, 2024: “Biafra volition pursuit each azygous 1 of you retired to spell commune successful Kaduna. What is this? Islam is banned successful Biafra land.”Similarly, @AfunwaEkedon wrote connected January 6, 2024: “As soon arsenic #Biafra is declared you volition articulation your radical successful the North. Islam is not invited successful Biafra land.”Also, @Abangwu4 said: “It is simply a taboo for an Igbo to beryllium a Muslim, it is precise very odd.”
We asked Uche Okafor-Mefor, erstwhile right-hand antheral to Kanu, the IPOB leader, if that is true. Mefor knows the Biafra secessionist question excessively well.
Source: Facebook
The erstwhile IPOB lawman leader’s effect is arsenic follows:
“The radical of Biafra (south-east, Igbo-Biafra) are a radical of religion with antithetic spiritual and spiritual persuasions. The Biafra of our imagination is an egalitarian, virile,multi-faith nine underpinned by antiauthoritarian and quality rights ethos. There indispensable beryllium spiritual state with beardown institutions endowed with afloat enforcement powers and implementation mechanisms. We bash not subscribe to a theocratic society. We favour a secular nine wherever everyone is adjacent earlier the law.“I person had radical talking astir Biafra being a Jewish society, that connected its ain is an autocratic, authoritarian, and extremist view—a hallucination excessively galore and which we indispensable consistently frown at.“We subscribe to Biafra, wherever societal justice, quality rights, and cardinal freedoms are sacrosanct and not criminality.”Non-Muslims to beryllium subjected to Sharia?
@Abangwu4 insinuated that Sharia (Islamic law) would beryllium instituted arsenic a main assemblage of civilian and transgression instrumentality successful the 5 southeast states.
He commented:
“Imagine introducing Sharia into Biafra onshore to regenerate our accepted and taste Omenala and Odinala… You excessively ideate it, it is not imaginable and won't beryllium allowed. In the United States of Biafra, Islam is not an authoritative religion recognised by the Biafran Government.”But, successful a correspondence with Legit.ng, Sheikh Dr Idris Oni, the acting caput of the Islamic Studies department, Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria, said that is not the case.
The spiritual student spoke astir the applicability of Shariah rulings.
He clarified:
“Even successful an Islamic authorities wherever the Sharia could beryllium successful afloat practice, Christians and Jews are escaped to usage the laws of their ain religion established successful their scriptures, not to present notation a secular society. They (non-Muslims) are mostly not to beryllium subjected to Islamic law. The rights of 1 broadside indispensable not infringe connected the rights of the different party- that is what Islam says.
Source: Twitter
Are Muslims non-existent successful ‘Biafraland’?
“There are nary Muslims successful Biafra land. Anybody claiming to beryllium Muslim is simply a fraud that wants to dupe the Muslim community.”This assertion is perfectly mendacious arsenic Nigeria is location to astir 13,500 indigenous Igbo Muslims.
In the people of the report, this writer spoke to respective Igbo Muslim devouts. In fact, the incumbent main imam of the country’s nationalist mosque successful Abuja, Sheikh Iliyasu Usman, is Igbo, from Enugu state.
Pictorial astir reported child-bride decease successful Yemen
Presenting a hateful rhetoric, @NwobodoBiafra shared a screenshot of an nonfiction astir an eight-year-old miss successful Yemen who allegedly died aft suffering interior bleeding connected her wedding night. In Yemen, Islam is the ascendant religion.
The screengrab besides contains images of the expected young unfortunate and a grey-bearded man, portraying them arsenic the mates successful question.
To verify whether the accusation was correct, Legit.ng ran reverse representation searches with Google Lens. The results showed that the images of the antheral and the miss are unrelated to the decade-old arguable child-bride decease lawsuit successful Yemen. We besides recovered that some images were unconnected.
The antheral successful the photograph is Ebrahim Yusuf Kazi, a spiritual person sent to situation for paedophilia successful the UK successful 2011 (archived here). His representation was published connected respective quality platforms astatine the time.
We input keywords from the screenshot’s caption connected hunt motor Google and it returned results from reputable quality outlets astir the purported bride death. Locals claimed a miss died of interior bleeding aft marrying a antheral 5 times her age. However, a Reuters study mentioned that a section information official denied immoderate specified incidental had taken place.
Meanwhile, the photos posted online by @NwobodoBiafra—apparently to spite Ugwu—have thing to bash with the reported child-bride decease successful Yemen.
The girl’s representation was connected the cyberspace earlier the 2013 incident; it was featured successful a multimedia study connected worldwide kid matrimony rates by Russia-1, published successful October 2012 (archived here).
Therefore, @NwobodoBiafra’s tweet is misleading.
Countering hatred code successful times of conflict
Authorities and tech investors request to instrumentality circumstantial measures to support radical from harassment, stimulate liable societal media use, and emphasise that ideology relies connected civilian engagement.
Lanre Olagunju, erstwhile Fact-Check Editor of TheCable, present the Editor-in-chief of CheckClimate Africa, deplored hatred code and mendacious claims connected X, saying they are not conscionable integer nuisances but “powerful triggers of real-world harm”.
“They amplify existing divisions, incite violence, and erode spot successful antiauthoritarian institutions,” helium said. “When disinformation spreads unchecked, it normalises prejudice and emboldens extremism. The velocity and standard astatine which lies question connected societal media platforms marque it adjacent much urgent to clasp actors accountable and physique integer resilience.”
Source: Twitter
On the commercialisation of verification connected X, Olagunju noted that the improvement has “dangerously blurred the lines betwixt credibility and chaos”, adding that “what was erstwhile a instrumentality for spot is present a badge anyone tin buy, enabling atrocious actors to mimic authorization and dispersed disinformation with ease.”
Amid weakened contented moderation, the disinformation adept reasoned that X's exertion programming interface (API) commercialisation has turned the level into “fertile crushed for coordinated inauthentic behaviour and overseas power operations, eroding nationalist spot and amplifying harmful narratives, including clime falsehoods.”
Prof. Kperogi, the journalism professor, could not hold more. He says the pay-for-verification exemplary confuses users astir whom to trust, starring to imaginable misinformation crises during important quality events oregon emergencies.
“The implications for journalists, nationalist figures, and authoritative sources are peculiarly severe, arsenic their messages whitethorn beryllium indistinguishable from paid, perchance dubious accounts. The commercialisation of verification has caused important collateral harm to accusation integrity and idiosyncratic spot connected X,” Kperogi submitted.For Ugwu, the unfortunate of utmost bullying, the constabulary acknowledged his complaints, but unfortunately, follow-ups person been minimal.
“There is often a deficiency of urgency erstwhile the threats are against spiritual minorities. I judge much proactive measures should beryllium taken,” helium said, besides expressing his privation that assemblage leaders beryllium vocal astir publically denouncing religious-based threats.He charged authorities actors to instrumentality hatred crimes earnestly and guarantee adjacent extortion for all.
“Educational campaigns to antagonistic hatred code and beforehand spiritual tolerance would besides spell a agelong way,” helium suggested.By sharing their experiences, Ugwu, Tochukwu, and different persecuted Igbo Muslims anticipation to interruption the stereotypes. Mutual respect successful religion is key. When radical spot Igbo Muslims not arsenic threats but arsenic chap kinsmen and kinswomen with antithetic beliefs, it tin physique bridges.
The mendacious claims and threats were besides posted here, here and here.
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Source: Legit.ng
