Fact Check: Did Queen Elizabeth II Really Write Any Condolence Letter To Mark President Buhari’s Death
October 24, 2020
In this article, we'd be going through some fact checks on the series of reports that have been trending on the various social media platforms regarding Pres. Muhammadu Buhari's death. If you are a Nigerian citizen, you must have at one point or the other, come across posts alleging Nigeria is being ruled by an impostor, Jibril of Sudan. The rumour, which was started by British-Nigerian political activist and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has been shared thousands of times across the various social networking platforms.
While the presidency has kept mute for a long time on the matter, Buhari decided to address it while in a meeting Nigerians in Poland when the issue of him being cloned was brought up. In response to the news, he said;
'The ignorant rumours are not surprising — when I was away on medical vacation last year a lot of people hoped I was dead.'
In another tweet, he assured Nigerians that he was the real person we voted while announcing his 76th birthday celebration;
'I can assure you all that this is the real me. Later this month I will celebrate my 76th birthday. And I’m still going strong!'
Among the points that have been used to back the claims was a condolence letter alleged to have been written by the Queen which ready;
'The death of President Buhari came to us as a shock. He has been one of the active pillars in Africa. May the good people of Nigeria and Africa know that our hearts are with them in these hard times'
The letter has also been shared multiple times across the various social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Twiter.
But did Queen Elizabeth II really send a condolence letter marking the alleged death of Nigeria’s president?
The truth is that the British monarch never sent a condolence letter to mark as suggested by social media posts being shared by hundreds of people. The photo of the Queen signing a book followed by a caption that suggests it shows her writing a condolence letter to the family of the Nigerian leader was actually formed by some mischief-makers.
The caption claims that letter was written in Feb. 2017, but the illustrating photo was actually captured years earlier at an entirely different event. The phot was taken during the launch event for the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs at Chatham House. You can check out the original image here.
In addition to the above information, Browse.NG is yet to obtain any official statements from the British government as regards to the condolence. For now, avoid sharing the image, let's join hands together in the battle against fake news.
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