Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo, has called on residents to ignore false social media alarms on security situation in the state.
His spokesman, Taiwo Adisa, in a statement, yesterday, warned residents against false security alarms in form of fake audio and video posts on social media.
The governor’s aide warned against raising false alarms on the security situation in Ibarapaland and parts of Oke-Ogun, adding that security agencies will deal with anyone seeking to cause ethnic tension.
Adisa, in a statement, said: “The penchant of certain individuals, groups and faceless bodies to take to social media and raise unfounded alarm just to cause panic among the people is becoming a cause for concern.”
He equally warned purveyors of such fake information to desist before they plunge the state into crisis with unforeseeable consequences, stating that the after-effects of the fake videos, false alarms and fake news would be grave.
Adisa said some unscrupulous elements seeking to cause crisis in Oyo State are behind the plot.
According to him, such persons and groups are intimidated by the level of successes recorded in the one and a half years administration of Governor Makinde and believe they can only gain attention by causing fear and apprehension among the populace.
Adisa particularly mentioned that some viral social media video and audio messages in which false and inciting claims were made about Ayete, Igangan, and other parts of the state have been on the rise in recent weeks.
He said some of such unfounded and baseless posts include the claim that Amotekun Corps killed some Fulani herdsmen, which amounts to a hoax; the claim that an imaginary 200 houses were razed by hoodlums in Labiran, Ibadan, which the police denied; and the claim that the insecurity situation in Ibarapa has escalated, which is outright falsehood.
The statement recalled how the Department of State Security (DSS) had recently released an intelligence report that some people were planning to cause religious and ethnic crises in Oyo and some states.
The statement added that it appeared that there is a plot by some elements, especially politicians, to cause religious and ethnic crisis in Oyo State with a view to derailing the state government, warning, however, that such people must realise the state is bigger than any individual and that its interest and peace should always be placed above any primordial, personal or political interests.