#BiafraHeroesDay2021: Did Gov. Willie Obiano Honour Fallen Men On 30 May? (FACT CHECK)

Some social media users with apparent Biafra leaning on Sunday started sharing a claim, saying Willie Obiano, the Anambra State governor, honoured the Biafra fallen heroes this past weekend.

A picture of where the Nigerian politician crouched down in a public space with some photojournalists present was used to claim that Obiano honoured Biafra fallen heroes in May 2021.

 

Prominent among sharers of that claim was Simon Ekpa, a self-confessed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader. Ekpa's claim has been shared over 2,000 times on Facebook.

IPOB is a proscribed group in Nigeria with the ultimate aim of splitting from the West African nation. It was created in 2012.

Annually, the group on May ending honours past Biafra agitators who have died. The Nigerian-Biafra civil war happened over 50 years ago, with huge number of deaths recorded.

AllNews fact-checks the claim of Governor Obiano "honouring" Biafra fallen heroes in 2021.

What we found out

Indeed, the picture was in a scenario where Obiano remembered Biafran Heroes, however, it is an old picture - from four years ago.

At the time (in 2017), Obiano erected a cenotaph with names of war heroes.

He erected a Transparent Wall of Honour at the Cenotaph in Alex Ekwueme Square containing the names of all heroes past in remembrance of Late Biafran heroes.

Speaking at the memorial event, Governor Obiano had stressed the need to keep remembering our heroes past, much importantly, for their bravery.

Obiano had said according to Vanguard: “Without memory, life assumes the attributes of a futile gaze into the void of time….Let’s Celebrate the bravery of these great spirits who lost their lives yesterday that we may find peace today."

See a picture of the cenotaph below:

 

Conclusion

The claim that Governor Obiano honoured remembered Biafra fallen heroes on 30th May 2021 is false. Obiano did not Honour Biafra fallen heroes in May 2021.

The picture being bandied around is a 2017 picture.