On November 24, 2024, a one minute video clip was posted by an X user, @NsoforObiageli with the claim that properties belonging to member of the Biafran group, worth billions of dollars, were being destroyed in Lagos State.
The caption on the clip reads; “This is Afonja destroying billions of dollars worth of Biafran properties in Lagos @alexstubb please protect our PM @simon_ekpa for us! We love him”
In the video, a voice behind the camera was heard saying, “Ahhh! Employers are here working. We are upstairs and they are demolishing downstairs, This is really terrible! This is really terrible! Thank God one of us just peeped, what about ones from above. See what Nigerians are doing. This is our problem. This is really terrible. This is terrible. Our life is in danger. We have millions of products out there. Our life does not matter to this government. This is really terrible. This is injustice. This is injustice. Baby, I’m coming, I’m coming. This is wickedness! This is wickedness!”
The claim has attracted about 23,000 views, 38 replies, 582 reposts and quotes, about 700 likes and 29 bookmarks as of the time this report was published. In the replies, some X users reacted with shock while some countered the narrative made in the claim. @bellshef88 replied saying, “This happen at wuse 2, 4years ago. The grand floor was suppose to be car park from the approval. Only the shop at the grand floor was intended to be touch then. No part of the Plaza was later touch #fakenews #fakenews.”
Another X user @white_mosco commented saying, “Whether is Abuja or Lagos.. whether is 4 years ago or today.. That don’t matter .. what matters is to pictures it to the world the Biafrans ‘re fighting to leave Nigeria for those who’re demolishing already Build homes ..Stop being an hypothetical..🙃🙃”
Also, @KDobbey replied in the comments saying “Una never see anything, just continue to believe in one Nigeria”, while @Ceejay_Aanunuebe said, “Old video and it’s Abuja not Lagos”. @ChimaobiUkachu1 replied saying, “This is sad – Nigeria is destroying is sir – Biafra needs freedom now”.
VERIFICATION
When NV-A extracted screenshots of the footage and subjected them to Google Reverse Image Search, the results show that the clip has been online since 2020.
An X user, @Austinokai posted the clip on November 16, 2020 with the caption ; “I am sure of the Oga on top loyalist is interested in this land.Lobito Crescent, Wuse, Abuja”. This clip was 1 minute and 31 seconds long and the voiceover in the background is similar to the one from @NsoforObiageli’s footage.
Nigeria Hot News also posted the same clip on November 17, 2020 on Facebook with a caption, “Shopping Mall in Lobito Crescent, Abuja, Nigeria being destroyed while residents are inside. Which type of Government do we have in this country? Don’t they value lives??Peru President resigned, just because 2 protesters died. Here, these politicians are killing people, in thousands, still, they are insatiable of innocent blood. Noooo, this country has to separate.😡😡😡😡.” The clip had the same length of footage as the one posted by @Austinokai and the voiceover in the background is similar to the one from @NsoforObiageli’s footage.
LindaikejiTV published on November 17, 2020 an image from a video reporting that a demolition exercise occurred at a shopping mall at Lobito Crescent in Wuse 2, Abuja. The video posted on Linda Ikeji’s verified instagram page on November 17, 2020 is similar to the one posted by @Austinokai.
Further searches led to Vanguard News TV’s YouTube channel showing the same video published on the channel on November 18, 2020. Using confirmation from multiple sources and a thorough look at the video showed that there was a Zenith bank opposite the building.
The fact-checker used Google maps street view to navigate Lobito Crescent and found a mall similar to the one in the circulating video. The image capture on Google map was from October 2021, revealing that the building was not totally demolished as claimed.
A report by Timeline.ng from November 2023 quoted the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) that the mall on Lobito Crescent was not totally demolished as claimed.
The report reads: “The FCTA wishes to clarify that, instead of demolition, the Department of Development Control identified an infraction related to the building’s use. Subsequently, appropriate measures were taken to address the issue responsibly. Contrary to the claims made in the video, the building was not brought down. Rather, the contravening portion was removed to ensure compliance with regulations.”
CONCLUSION
The video clip that Biafran Properties in Lagos were being destroyed is MISLEADING as findings show that the purported demolition occurred in Wuse, 2 Area of Abuja in November 2020 as part of a FCTA code violation.
