Did IPOB Destroy Armoured Personnel Carriers Belonging To The Nigerian Military In Okigwe?

On April 9, 2025, an X user, @Lionheartagu posted images of two damaged Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs, claiming that they were destroyed by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

(Images Of The Destroyed APCs)

The post which has gathered over 30,000 views as of the time this report was published was captioned “WE HAVE ACTUALLY RESTRATEGIZED THE OKIGWE WARFARE. HMMMM! IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW DEVASTATING OGBUNIGWE IS JUST SEE PICTURES OF ARMOURED TANKS OUR OGBUNIGWE ROMANCED IN OKIGWE.”

The second post on the thread reads: “The pictures in the post is only to show you how devastating our OGBUNIGWE worked on 4 Amoured tanks in Okigwe yesterday. We have stopped taking scene pictures, please. Take it/ leave it, truth remains that the zoo Army is on the run right now in Okigwe.”

In the comment section, @MarvinUchenna wrote: “You’re using a picture from 2021 to lie and you’re attaching Biafra to your name, what’s your mission exactly? Are you not ashamed? Tufiakwa”, while @ogbonnatochuk20 said “SE is a rain forest zone with red or brown soil,tell me why we’re having a savanna  type of  greenery in “okigwe”?”.

VERIFICATION

​Google reverse image search of the images in the post showed that the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB on February 13, 2024, used image 1 for a similar claim.

A further search using Google reverse image reveals that both APCs were destroyed in 2021 by Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, and Boko Haram. The attack happened in January 2021, when Boko Haram destroyed at least four Nigerian army armoured vehicles as seen here. Militants belonging to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, destroyed an APC, belonging to the Nigerian Army. According to reports, the armoured personnel carrier was destroyed in combat after being hit by a suicide vehicle bomb. This was as a result of stiff resistance from the group that deploys bomb-laden vehicles, buried improvised explosive devices and gun trucks in an attempt to counter the offensive.

Using keyword search like “was there any fight between IPOB and the military in Okigwe”, the result revealed there was an incident in 2024 with IPOB suffering more casualties. The Punch Nigeria reported that in December 2024, there was a coordinated operation involving the Army, Police, DSS, and NSCDC dislodging a suspected IPOB/ESN camp in Aku. The operation led to arrests and the dismantling of a base reportedly used for launching attacks on civilians and security personnel. Since then, there has been no related report on IPOB or military activities in Okigwe

CONCLUSION 

The claim that the images of the destroyed armoured personnel carriers were from an attack by IPOB in Okigwe in MISLEADING. Search results reveal that this happened in 2021 when the Nigerian Military suffered heavy losses in the hands of ISWAP and Boko Haram.