Relentless ‘poisoned vaccine’ fever hits Kwara, parents storm Omu-Aran schools

Anxiety enveloped Omu-Aran community in Kwara State yesterday as parents stormed schools in their hundreds to withdraw their wards over a rumour of alleged killer vaccines being administered on school children in the area.

The same rumour had rocked Rivers and Ondo states Tuesday and almost all the Southeast states the week before, producing the same effects: parents rushing to schools to remove their children to stop them being given the ‘deadly vaccine.’

The parents had besieged both private and public schools in OmuAran yesterday as early 9am as the rummour of the presence of the said vaccine injection team allegedly accompanied by soldiers in the town spread like wild fire.

Most of the parents had to abandon their businesses to get to the various schools, and some schools had to lock up their gates to keep the parents away.

Some schools were also forced to engage the service of the men of Omu-Aran Police Division when the development degenerated into confrontation between the parents and school authorities.

In the end, most of the schools had to succumb to the pressure from the parents by releasing the students.

Speaking on the development, the Chairman of Irepodun Local Government Area, Elder Jacob Ajiboye , described the ‘killer vaccine’ rummour as baseless.

“It is true there was outbreak of fever in some communities and presently immunization against such is ongoing in areas like Ajase Ward 1 and 2.

But I don’t know where the rumour of a killer vaccine emanated from,” he said.

The Kwara State Government similarly denied the rumour that soldiers were injecting school pupils in Omu-Aran.

In a release signed by the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Security, Alhaji Amusa Bello, the government advised members of the public to ignore the rumour.