The Bayelsa State Police Command has denied reports that have been circulating on social media alleging that there was a militant group holding hostage bandits, thereby requiring a ransom of N50 million for each of them.
The Police Command stated that this report, which began spreading through social media sites as early as Friday morning, raised fear amongst the people in certain areas within the state such as Ogbuna.
Other areas includes, Pulaku and the neighboring communities where parents scrambled to schools to collect their children because of the fear of insecurity.
According to Musa Mohammed, spokesperson of the Police Command, an initial investigation has revealed that the source of the misinformation is a Facebook post posted by someone by the name of Sen. Promise Etete JP.
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This post contained a story that militant groups were holding bandits and demanding huge sums of money as ransom for their release.
As a reaction to the above-mentioned development, the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police (CP) Iyamah Edebor ordered a security mission that involved the use of the School Protection Squad, Tactical Teams, and Command’s Drone Unit to investigate the matter and pacify residents.
Security operatives have been sent to areas such as Ogbuna, Pulaku, Sabagreia, Kaiama, and surrounding communities where visits were also paid to schools like the Ijaw National Academy (Kaiama), Gbarainowei Grammar School (Okolobiri), and Fun-Tari Academy (Sabagreia).
It has been confirmed by the police that nothing found during the operation could support the claims going viral on social media. There is no threat to public safety at all.
Reassuring security operations have also been carried out in the affected area to assure people.
The Command further revealed that calmness has been restored in the affected communities, and people continue with their businesses undisturbed. The security monitoring process is still on to maintain public safety.
The police advised residents to ignore all unverified information on social media that may create fear and panic among people.
Moreover, the Command urged the general public to trust the proper communication outlets for credible information about their security status, and also urged those who have any valuable information regarding security issues to make known their contributions to the nearest police station.
The officials assured that the safety and security of lives and properties will be protected in the state by the measures put in place for the purpose.
