Edo State Government has advised residents in the state to be wary of the deluge of fake news of alleged herdsmen attacks trending on the internet and circulated by people they know too well.
Special Adviser to Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said “the false alarm originated with some disgruntled individuals.”
He explained that while the state government will not deny the skirmishes between herdsmen and farmers in part of the state, the recent propagation of fake news on social media is part of a plot to create a general sense of insecurity in the state and an attempt to put the current administration in bad light.
The Aide said “our investigation into the veracity of some audio messages about attacks on passengers in buses owned by God Is Good Motors and other vehicles, trending on the internet, showed that the story is not true as the management of the transport service debunked the claim, describing it as completely false. These are some of the shenanigans of these unholy group of people.
“Also, the photograph of dead people on the road allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen has been trending on the internet since Tuesday. That photograph first hit the internet in 2010. It is pure mischief to circulate the 2010 photograph as an incident that happened yesterday. On the strength of the falsehood the promoters of the photograph set out to achieve, we have reasons to suspect similar internet content.
“One newspaper report said the photograph is of an armed robbery incident that happened in 2010. The newspaper account said that a bus driver was forced by the robbers to run some passengers over because the passengers did not give the robbers money.
“Edo people should be circumspect and cross-check any media content thrown at them on the internet as the people behind the campaign to de-market Edo State are people we know too well.
“They will stop at nothing in their desperation to advance reasons for them to return to power and plunder the people’s resources. Edo people should beware of false alarms by these unpatriotic elements,” he advised.
He assured that no campaign of calumny by these un-progressive elements can stop the ongoing redemption efforts of the Obaseki-led government after the blighted years of these enemies of Edo State.
