Fact-Check: Does the militant take over the river as a pro-IPOB Facebook page claim?

Claiming: Militants have taken over Rivers State.

Indictment: FALSE.

Complete text
On May 16, a post on the Facebook page claim that militants have taken over Rivers State. “Militants have taken over the Rivers state government building, with 56 military personnel confirmed dead. Administrator Sole Sole has been captured by militants,” the post rang in part.

Some images attached to the post show people in camouflage and the paths.
The Facebook page has 34,000 followers who tend to see posts.

Verification

Nigerian ripples can be authoritarian reporting that there is no militant takeover at Rivers State.
Remember that after a prolonged political crisis in the State of Rivers, the President of the Tinubu Bola in March stated an emergency, and appointed a single administrator after suspending the elected governor, Siminalayi Fubara and a member of the State Council for six months.

The findings show that Facebook pages that sell stories often spread the agenda of the native Biafra (IPOB) a group in the southeastern Nigeria region that fights for their own government.
Using a verification of the image, Ripples Nigeria found that some of the images attached to the post had been online as far as 2016. They did not describe the militant takeover as claimed.

For example, the picture (frame 2) has displayed In the news related to Delta Niger militants. Also, Figure (Frame 4) show A protest scene in Port Harcourt where youth protested the emergency rules expressed in the state of Rivers.

Conclusion

Reports that militants have taken over the Rivers State misleading.

By: Quadri Yahya