Simon Ekpa, one of the leaders of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), today asserted that the Igbo, an ethnic group in eastern Nigeria, had rejected the country by refusing to participate in the ongoing general elections.
Earlier, Ekpa had called on southeasterners to boycott the election, following a sit-at-home order. He tweeted these images to corroborate his position that there will be no election in southeastern Nigeria.
Ekpa posted pictures from BBC Igbo to substantiate his claim of compliance with the sit-at-home order in Owerri, Imo state.
Verification
The photo story shared by the BBC Igbo on its Facebook page described how the Wetheral Road in Owerri looked like as the election was ongoing. The caption of the post when interpreted reads, “see how Wetheral road, Owerri is this morning as the presidential election and Nigerian constituency progress”.
“The police said there would be no movement from 12am till 6pm. People can use their feet to go to the place where they are to vote that is close to them.”
Juliet Okeiyi, CDD state coordinator for observers in Imo state, told the Election War Room that elections were taking place all over the state capital.
“Election is taking place everywhere in Owerri, there is no sit at home anywhere. Even the young ones that are not voting are on the streets playing football.
“The only thing was that they compressed some polling units. The election is taking place and people are moving to vote.”
Verdict
Simon Ekpa’s claim is Misleading. He posted the the BBC Igbo images without the appropriate context.
Leave a Reply