The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Philip Ogbadu, has described as fake the news making the rounds alleging that a community in Ovia North East Local Government of the state had been invaded and seized by marauding bandits.

Ogbadu disclosed this when he led a joint security team including the Police, Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and local vigilante, among others, to the community.

In a statement, the Police Commissioner who was represented by the Command Public Relations Officer, SP Kantonge Bello, reassured on the commitment of the security agencies to the protection of lives and property of residents.

According to him,

The news making the rounds on social media that a community in Edo State was sacked over the weekend by herdsmen is not true. A joint security force made up of the Army and Police have visited the area to get first-hand information on the issue.

We have been directed following the report of the sack of the community, which is why we came here with journalists to visit the community. It was an issue of farmer and herders clash.

Describing the story as false, Ogbadu noted nobody was killed nor houses burnt as alleged in the fake news.

He stated,

People are agitated by the story; we are here to ensure the tension is reduced. The community has not been sacked as reported by some aspects of the media. No house was burnt and nobody killed. We have visited the village in the company of the Area Commander, DPO Ekiadolor and the Army.

We want to assure the people that are residing here that they are safe. We assure you of the safety of lives and property. This delegation is here to show that the government and security agencies are committed to ensuring that there is no breakdown of law and order in the state.

In a related development, the Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said its attention had been drawn to a vile, malicious, fictitious and ill-fated report purporting that a community in Ovia North East Local Government of the state had been invaded and seized by marauding bandits with the intention of terrorising the community and its neighbours.

According to a statement from the party yesterday, checks by Edo PDP at the said community and engagement with the Nigeria Police Force and local sources revealed that the story was fabricated by the opposition and detractors of the state government with the intention to cause panic among Edo citizens.

It must be put on record that the opposition in Edo State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their minions have resorted to their familiar antic of stage-managing the orchestration of chaos where there is none in order to drive alternative facts, propaganda and falsehoods, so as to put the people of the state on the edge.

There is no denying that the latest attempt is as a result of the accolades heaped by citizens and visitors to the state on the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, his administration and security agencies in the state for a peaceful yuletide celebration, during which no violent crime was recorded, even as the state witnessed unprecedented activity in the entertainment, hospitality and creative sectors.

The opposition is uncomfortable that despite their false alarm and a dimwitted call for a state of emergency, the state is manifestly peaceful and Edo people have come out to acknowledge this obvious fact as a part of their lived reality,

it added.

It said the APC and their agents should be made aware that it was a crime to stir up a crisis with false alarms and fake news as is contained in the extant laws of the land.

The public is advised to ignore their false alarms and ill-fated propaganda as it is only aimed to drive selfish interest in stirring up a crisis where there is none.

Security agencies in the state have been put on the alert and will not fail to bring those found to be fermenting crises in the state to justice.

We hereby urge Edo people to go about their businesses with the assurance that the Governor Obaseki-led government will continue to provide the needed support for the state vigilante network, security agencies and other institutions to deliver their statutory role of ensuring the safety of lives and property in the state,

it added.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.