Many public and private schools in Osun State on Tuesday abruptly shut down operations as rumours of bandit invasion spread through communities in the state.
Some public and private schools in Ila, Odo Otin, Boripe, Osogbo, and Olorunda local government areas shut down before 11 am following the rumour.
At Sasa Area, Oke Baale, Osogbo, many parents stormed the public primary school in the area to pick their kids as the rumour spread.
Also in Eweta Area, a community located in Ikirun, off Ikirun-Inisa Road, many parents rushed to schools to pick up their children before closing time.
However, indicated that the rumour of a bandit invasion started around the Ila Orangun axis early in the morning on Tuesday. Further checks revealed that some people claimed an abduction of a schoolgirl occurred at Faaje village along Oyan Road in Ila Orangun.
But the insinuations were later discovered to be false, as the girl involved was said to have gone into hiding to avoid going to school. A reliable security source who craved anonymity since he was not authorised to comment officially on the incident said that, before long, the untrue news of the girl’s abduction had spread through Ila, the headquarters of Ila Local Government, and Oyan, a community in Odo Otin Local Government.
But dismissing the insinuations, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, reassured the residents that his government has taken proactive steps to secure schools in the state, urging the public to ignore recent false alarms about school kidnappings in some parts of the state.
The governor, who described the rumour as the ‘handiwork of evil opposition elements,’ said fact checks from the border areas and across the state confirmed that there was no case of kidnappings.
“I task our people to go about their normal activities without fear. Our government has taken steps to secure our schools. The Ministry of Education and the relevant security agencies have worked out a security strategy that is being implemented”, the governor said
He reiterated that parents and guardians should not panic, as the said alarm was false and the handiwork of opposition elements seeking to plunge the state into chaos.
The governor further said the state’s Armoured Personnel Carriers have been fully refurbished and are ready for deployment.
The governor said his administration inherited the “knocked down APCs in various locations,” noting that “they were reworked and rehabilitated for deployment in areas of need under joint operations by security agencies.”