Last week, a social media influencer, Jackson Hinkle shared a video with the accompanying caption, “residents of Burkina Faso rally in support of Niger & Russia”.
The video captures scenes of jubilant residents celebrating as a military convoy moves through. Notably, the footage also depicts interactions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the interim President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, exchanging friendly greetings.
Niger Military Coup
On July 27th, 2023, a military coup unfolded in Niger. The coup leaders dissolved the elected cabinet of Mohamed Bazoum and suspended all democratic institutions. Since the announcement, Bazoum has been held captive by the presidential guard.
Promptly after the coup, Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president and ECOWAS chairman, convened an extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS leaders. Their resolution was to issue a one-week ultimatum to Abdourahmane Tchiani, also known as Omar Tchiani, Niger’s presidential guard chief.
During an Extraordinary Summit in Abuja, ECOWAS leaders in a resolution conveyed by the chairperson of its Commission, Omar Touray, warned that if constitutional order wasn’t restored in Niger, the sub-regional body will resort to the use force.
Following this, defence chiefs from ECOWAS member states finalised an intervention strategy, urging their armed forces to ready resources to remove the coup orchestrators in Niger. This decision came in response to a failed attempt by a mediation team to enter Niger and meet with military leader, Abdourahmane Tchiani.
In opposition to ECOWAS intervention, the leaders of Burkina Faso and Mali, two other West African countries under military rule, offered their support to Niger’s military leader.
Claim: Video shows residents of Burkina Faso rallying in support of Niger and Russia
Verification
The CDD War Room traced the first part of the video to the moment residents of Burkina Faso were celebrating the arrival of their president from Russia.
The other part of the video shows the naval parade of the second Russia-Africa summit, which was held in July, 2023.
While the interim leader of Burkina Faso aligns with Russia and there are reports of Burkina Faso residents turning to Russia for aid, the video does not show residents of Burkina Faso rallying in support of Niger.
Verdict: MISLEADING