Photo of Congolese model digitally altered to add Nigerian separatist leader

A recent social media post published with a photo claims that the image shows Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa on a beach with a woman, “enjoying life in Finland”. But the claim is false: AFP Fact Check established the picture was digitally altered, with Ekpa’s face superimposed on another man’s body.

“This is Simon Ekperima the criminal, enjoying life in Finland while his fellowers (sic) are being killed everyday in Nigeria,” reads a tweet published on July 11, 2023.

“Simon Ekperima” refers to Simon Ekpa, the factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB is pushing for the independence of Nigeria’s southeast region. Its followers have a history of sowing disinformation, with multiple claims debunked by AFP Fact Check.

The post, retweeted more than 1,000 times, was shared by Nigerian musician Charles “Charly Boy” Oputa.

Oputa has also been the subject of previous AFP Fact Check debunks, including here and here.

IPOB

Calls for a separate state of Biafra remain a hot-button topic in Nigeria more than half a century after secessionist leader Chukwuemeka Ojukwu declared the independence of the country’s southeast in 1967. This was followed by a brutal 30-month civil war (archived here).

A faction of the group loyal to Finland-based Ekpa recently declared a two-week-long curfew in the region to protest the continued detention of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu (archived here). Kanu is facing trial for treason and terrorism (archived here).

The violent crackdown on defaulters of the curfew has been widely criticised (archived here). Local media said gunmen enforcing the curfew killed at least three people (archived here). Other IPOB members distanced themselves from Ekpa’s order, calling it “irresponsible”.

But the claim that the photo shows Ekpa with a woman on a beach is false.

Ivorian comedian

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on the photo and found that an Instagram page called “observateur_ebene” published the original on March 31, 2021 (archived here).

The account belongs to an Ivorian comedian called Florent Amany, popularly known as Observateur Ebene (archived here). He shared the same image on Facebook (archived here).

Screenshot of the post featuring the original image, taken on July 14, 2023

The caption on Instagram said the images showed the comedian and a Congolese model whose page was mentioned in the post.

The photo in the false tweet was altered, with Ekpa’s face replacing Amany’s.

Matching elements in the two images include the logo on the man’s boardshorts, the drawstring, creases on the hat, the necklace and towel around the man’s neck, and the woman holding a mobile phone.