Edo Govt Denies Herdsmen Attack on Buses

The 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 we know too well.”

The Special Adviser to 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 would not deny the skirmishes between herdsmen and farmers in parts of the state, the recent propagation of fake news on social media was 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.