In addition to the photo, there was also an audio recording of a hysterical woman claiming the travellers were attacked and killed by Fulani herdsman along the Ogun section of the Lagos-Benin highway.
The picture was gruesome, and the fear was palpable as we wondered about the fate of innocent travellers and what they might encounter along the way. How safe is the country and how could the herdmen go was the question every decent person pondered. But curiously, no news organisation, no security agency could confirm the alleged killings.
Then gradually, there was a kind of hope creeping into our hearts. Maybe all was not what it seemed. That is not to say that the picture was forgotten, maybe there was another explanation.
Fastward this morning, the news went round that the photo was from an accident from 2011. Then every poster of the gruesome image blamed someone else as their source.
To cut a long story short, while there was some relief that the whole story was fake, it, however, raised the question of why trivialise such a weighty security issue as that of Fulani herdsmen atrocities? The writer has no idea what was the motivation of the person or persons who first shared the fake news but it leaves a strong bad taste.
So, we strongly agree with the press release by the PRO of Ogun State police command warning the public against spreading fake news. The command notes that peddling such information is capable of causing pains to people and warns that offenders risk facing the wrath of the law. The command also implores the public to report any “suspicious criminal attempt to disrupt public peace” noting that the police will not relent in their effort to ensure “sustainable peace and security.”
Read the statement:
