Finland president did not post video supporting Nigerian separatists

A video shared widely on social media appears to show Finland’s President Alexander Stubb throwing his weight behind the Biafra movement, which hopes to secede from Nigeria.

In the video, Stubb appears alongside an image of Simon Ekpa, a Finnish politician and Biafran political activist who has declared himself the leader and prime minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile.

Stubb evokes the Finnish Winter War and how Finns understand what the intended audience of the video is going through, vowing his country’s support for “as long as it takes”.

“We support you because it’s morally right, we support you because you’re fighting for your independence,” the president says.

The video is also shared with a badly-spelt attempt at the caption: “A pledge from the Finnish president” (“A PLADGE FROM FINNIS PRESIDENT”).

However, the original video has nothing to do with the Biafra movement at all.

A reverse image search of a still from the video takes us straight to where it first came from: the official X account of Stubb himself.

Here it’s clear that it was shared in the context of support for Ukraine, after the country marked 1,000 days fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion in November.

“Finland’s support for Ukraine remains unwavering. We will continue to stand by Ukraine,” Stubb said. 

The president makes no reference at all to Nigeria or Biafra.

The altered video was shared on X by an account that regularly posts pro-Biafra content, regardless of the truth behind it.

For good measure, X has since added a tag beneath the video explaining that it’s been taken out of context.

The Republic of Biafra was a partially recognised state in West Africa that existed between 1967 and 1970. 

It surrendered to Nigeria after three years of war, however, various Biafran secessionist groups have since emerged, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) — a group of which Ekpa claims to lead a faction, and which Nigeria has labelled a terrorist organisation.

However the group has distanced itself from him, calling him a “content creator” who has never been part of the “IPOB structure”.

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Ekpa is currently in detention in Finland alongside four accomplices for alleged terror-related offences. Assets belonging to the five have also reportedly been frozen.