What is written that the president of Finland promised to support Biafra is false

For decades, separatists in Nigeria have been campaigning to break away from the southeast of the country and form a new country called Biafra. A widely shared video appears Finland’s president Alexander Stubb pledges his support to the separatist cause. However, AFP Fact Check discovered that the clip was doctored: in the first image, the leader expresses sympathy for Ukraine.

“A pledge from the president of Finland (sic),” reads the caption of the video posted on X and shared nearly 1,000 times since it was published on November 20, 2024.

This piece was published by an account that identifies as Biafra and regularly shares content in support of the separatist movement with more than 10,000 followers.

The video shows a collage of Stubb from Finland and Simon Ekpa, a Finnish-Nigerian duo who also calls himself the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Biafrans have been demanding independence for southeastern Nigeria, where a bloody civil war was fought in the late 1960s.

Ekpa was arrested in Finland on November 21 on suspicion of inciting terrorist acts (archived here).

Police say they believe he is instigating “violence against people and public authorities and other crimes in south-east Nigeria” from Finland.

In the misleading video, Stubb is heard saying: “Finland’s winter war lasted 105 days, yours lasted 10 times longer. We understand what you are going through, we will support you as long as it lasts. We support you because the moral is right. We support you because you fight for independence, but we also support you because you fight for European security.”

The claim appeared elsewhere on X, and on Facebook and TikTok.

Unrelated video

AFP Fact Check extracted keyframes from the video and ran a reverse image search using the InVid WeVerify tool.

This led to the original photos, which were posted by the Finnish president himself on his official X account (stored here).

“Ukraine has been fighting for its freedom for a thousand days. Finland’s support for Ukraine remains unwavering. We will continue to stand by Ukraine,” his text read.

The first 35-second clip starts in the same way as the one shared by pro-Biafra accounts but lasts for a few seconds. In these final seconds removed, Stubb says: “The war in Ukraine is our war. Slava Ukraine!

He does not say anything about Nigeria or Biafra.

Pro-Biafra activists have repeatedly shared false claims that foreign governments sanctioned the secession of the nation of Biafra from Nigeria.

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