By Elder Yinka Salaam
The recent deluge of misinformation, disinformation and false alarm that have pervaded the entire Southwest leave so much to be desired.
The disinformation are deadly, dangerous and must not be handled with levity. Already, an innocent motorcyclist has been reportedly killed by some actors who acted on the disinformation which circulated on social media.
It’s obvious the initiators of these disinformation and alarmists are content creators who are chasing clout to make cheap money from the challenge of insecurity and wouldn’t mind throwing Nigeria into panic. Raising false alarm on bandits is now the new ‘cruise’ in town, especially in Southwest, making the region susceptible to chaos and unrest.
While one is not ruling out the insecurity threat, false alarms ultimately make the security agencies to dissipate energy in mobilising and pursuing non-existing threats. It does not only divert attention from pursuing the real threat, it also prevents the security agencies from paying attention to the real problem of insecurity.
With the Muslims festival, Eid el Adha just days away, a voice note surfaced from someone who claimed to be a pastor.
He threw Osun and Oyo state into panic which resulted into self-imposed curfew from residents of these states. Motorists and pedestrians were scanty on the streets of Osogbo and Ibadan as major towns went quiet.
All these resulted from an unconfirmed claim emanating from the voice note from the pastor which suggested that bandits are ready to poison the air by 9.00pm on a particular day and a lot of people believed it.
Immediately after the Eid el Adha, another information came up which caused series of panics within Lagos, Ogun, and Osun. This time, it was backed with both audios and videos, disrupting the SSCE examination as parents, in some cases besieged the schools, demanding to take their children home.
In Osun, panic spread in Ikirun, Osun State via a purported letter, allegedly dropped at an unknown public school, leading to school shut-downs and parents rushing to pick up their wards.
A video showed a man wearing army camouflage trousers being dragged and beaten by the mob with a lady shouting on top of her voice: “Bandit ti wọ Osogbo oo” (meaning Bandits has entered Osogbo”.
Another video surfacd with an inscription: “It has been confirmed that Fulani olokada use their okada to kidnap people in Yoruba land. Don’t allow Fulani olokada to carry you, you may be kidnapped.Be warned.”
One of the disclaimers from the government and security agencies reads: “Please be advised that reports regarding banditry or related activity in Ikirun are entirely false. It is crucial for the public to disregard this misinformation which is causing unnecessary tension and leading some parents to withdraw their children from school prematurely”.
Responding to another abduction claim, a disclaimer also read: “The information circulating in the town on abduction in Osogbo area is a false news which is not true. Your pupils are safe, We just need to pray for our country”.
Despite government and police disclaimers and assurances on the unfounded rumours, those who have taken any information on social media as the gospel truth kept spreading the rumours to the gullible ones.
Within the same week, on a single day, three panic alarms were spread in Lagos. They were backed by either false or outdated videos.
False banditry attacks were reported at Ibeju Lekki, Imota in Ikorodu and Oke-Afo. The Ibeju Lekki’s false alarm was backed by a one-minute video of three Fulani men and a woman traveling within the city. They were forced to alight from the popular city bus, called Korope. A man in the video was seen holding an object which he falsely claimed to be bullets.
Unlike Ibeju Lekki, the rumour of bandit attack in Imota which claimed that three people were killed by bandits and children adopted had neither an audio nor a video clip to back it up, yet it spread like wild fire.
According to newspapers report, some men of the underworld used the opportunity to attack and kill a commercial motorcycle rider who happened to be a Fulani, and stole his motorcycle. The following day, the police arrested 15 suspects in connection with this crime and issued a statement,:
“A commercial motorcyclist has been beaten to death in Lagos after a mob, acting on viral social media posts falsely claiming armed bandits had invaded nearby communities, wrongly identified him as one of the attackers.
More details here...
