Posts claiming that the president of Finland promises to support Biafra are false

For decades, separatists in Nigeria have been campaigning to break off the southeastern part of the country and create a new country called Biafra. A widely shared video appears to be appearing Finnish President Alexander Stubb pledges his support to the separatist cause. However, the AFP Intelligence Check found that the clip was checked: in the original film, the director shows sympathy for Ukraine.

“Promise from the Finnish president (sic),” read a video caption posted on X and has been shared nearly 1,000 times since its release on November 20, 2024.

The clip was published by an account that identifies as Biafran and regularly shares content in support of the secessionist movement with more than 10,000 followers.

The video shows a collage of Finnish Stubb and Simon Ekpa, a dual Finnish-Nigerian national who is also the self-proclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Supporters of Biafra have been pushing for independence in southeastern Nigeria, where a bloody civil war was fought in the late 1960s.

Ekpa what arrest in Finland on November 21 on suspicion of terrorist activities for incitement (archive here).

Police said they believed he had instigated “violence against civilians and public authorities and other crimes in south-east Nigeria” from Finland.

In the fake video, Stubb can be heard saying: “Finland's winter war lasted 105 days, yours has lasted 10 times longer. We understand what you are going through, we will support you as long as it takes. We support you because it is morally right. We support you because you fight for your independence, but we also support you because you fight for the security of Europe.”

The application has appeared another place on X, as well as on Facebook and TikTok.

Unrelated video

AFP Information Analysis extracted key frames from the video and ran image searches back on them using the InVid WeVerify machine.

This caused the original footagewhich was posted by the president of Finland himself on his official account X (archive here).

“Ukraine has been fighting for its independence for 1,000 days. Finland's aid to Ukraine remains unabated. We will continue to stand by Ukraine,” his post reads.

The original 35-second clip begins in the same way as the one shared by pro-Biafra accounts but lasts a few seconds longer. In the last deleted seconds, Stubb says: “The fight in Ukraine is our fight. Slava Ukraine!”

At no point does he mention Nigeria or Biafra.

Pro-Biafra activists have shared several false claims that foreign governments have supported the secession of the Biafran nation from Nigeria.

You can read our debunks on the subject here and here.