JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Three Israelis making a documentary in Nigeria on a forgotten Jewish community were arrested last week and charged with making contact with anti-government separatist elements. One of the three is prominent Jewish and Israel rights activist Rudy Rochman, who has 95,000 followers on Instagram.
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Rochman was with filmmaker Noam Leibman and French-Israeli journalist E. David Benaym on a mission to document the Igbo tribe, who claim to be descended from Jews. The tribe live in an area in southeast Nigeria occupied by Biafran separatists, but family members of the three Israelis said that they had not made any contact with separatist elements and were being framed by the separatists for their own political goals.
The three Israelis had been aware previously of the political tensions in the region and had therefore declared on the Facebook page of their documentary that “we do not take any position on political movements as we are not here as politicians nor as a part of any governmental delegations.”
The Israeli embassy in Nigeria is in contact with local authorities and is attempting to secure the release of the three prisoners.
Rochman and his friends were visiting Nigeria to film “We Were Never Lost,” a documentary exploring communities with Jewish roots in African countries such as Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Nigeria. The three were allegedly arrested during Friday night synagogue services at the Igbo village of Ogidi and were taken to jail in the capital city of Abuja.
The group met last week with Igbo leader Eze Chukwuemeka Eri and presented him with a framed picture made in Jerusalem.
Rochman also presented another Igbo community with a Torah scroll whose cover was designed by British-Israeli street artist Solomon Souza.
The Igbo consider themselves a lost tribe of Israel.
Rochman with members of the Igbo community (Twitter image)
Not everyone who claims to be Jewish is actually so.