A video showing burnt structures near an expressway has circulated online with a claim that men of the Nigerian military had allegedly burnt down the properties at Okigwe community in Imo state.
An X user @amauche99263330 posted the video on November 28, 2024 and it shows the properties razed down. The video comes with a narrator’s voice in the background saying that millions of naira worth of goods were destroyed allegedly by soldiers along Okigwe expressway.
“Nigeria military on Okigwe expresses, you can see shops that [was] were burn this morning. All these places were burnt to ashes. People’s goods worth millions [was] were destroyed. You can see,” the narrator said.
READ: How genuine are pictures of burnt houses in Igangan, Oyo State?
The caption on the video post read thus:
CLAIM
Video shows properties razed down by Nigerian military around Okigwe expressway recently.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the video has been online since December 31, 2022.
Our researcher conducted a Google reverse image search on some key frames from the video. The results show that multiple social media users had posted the video in December 2022.
For instance, a Facebook user, Comrade Alfa Alfred, posted the video online on December 31, 2022 with a caption thus: “In Imo State, Nigeria Military burnt down people’s houses and shops!”
Further checks led our researcher to a media report on the incident published by The Cable on January 4, 2023.
The report indicated that Aku-Okigwe, a community in Imo State, had accused the personnel of the Nigerian army of “indiscriminate rampage and killing of innocent residents” during a military raid in the area.
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The raid reportedly followed reports of the abduction and assault of P.P. Johnson, a lieutenant in the army who was abducted on Monday, December 26, 2022, while on a trip to a part of Southeastern, Nigeria.
Aside the community’s reaction, there’s no other credible evidence to suggest the Nigerian military carried out the arson seen in the video though it’s NOT RECENT, as we could not independently verify that part of the claim.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows properties razed down by Nigerian military around Okigwe expressway recently is MISLEADING; the video has been online since December 2022 and it is not a recent event.
