A Twitter user, @HMReportsBRGIE is claiming that Alexander Stubb is in support of the actualisation of Biafran sovereignty.
Posting a video where the Finnish president was speaking, @HMReporrtsBRGIE claimed that Stubb has pledged to support the Biafra people in their fight for independence.
The picture of Simon Ekpa, the self-proclaimed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was framed with Stubb’s video (archived here).
The post has been retweeted 605 times, with 1000 likes.
Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE) is a faction of IPOB which Ekpa leads.
The secessionist group is supposedly planning an official declaration of the ‘United States of Biafra’ on December 2.
EKPA was arrested by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on November 21. He was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
In December 2021, TheCable profiled Ekpa as someone who uses disinformation to fight for the secession of the south-east from Nigeria.
VERIFICATION
CableCheck found that Stubb posted the original video on his Twitter handle on November 19.
In the video, Stubb was addressing Ukraine and expressing his support for the country.
The Russia-Ukraine has been on since February 2022.
“Finland’s winter war lasted 105 days, your war has lasted ten times longer. We understand what you’re going through,” Stubb said in the video.
“We will support you for as long as it takes. We support you because it is morally right. We support you because you are fighting for your independence but we also support you because you’re fighting for your security. The fight in Ukraine is our fight.”
VERDICT
The claim that the Finnish president has declared his support for the Biafra is false. Stubb’s video was in support of Ukraine, not Biafra.
