By Ibe Pascal
On Wednesday evening, there was a trending news that kidnappers have hijacked school bus filled pupils at Obinze in Imo State.
This is coming on the heels of renewed abduction and robbery around Owerri.
A blogger and self acclaimed influencer named NONONSENSE on X platform (formerly Twitter) claimed that school children were abducted at Obinze in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State on Wednesday.
The blogger wrote, “Breaking News: Kidnappers have hijacked a school bus filled with pupils at Obinze, Owerri, Imo State.
“This happened right in town today not near the bush .. “
“Have you seen any Igbo influencers talking about this the way they were shouting Ekiti ? ..
“They don’t care about their land but Yoruba land”
Check by CrimeFacts on Thursday morning showed that the post generated over 77k view, 218 reposts, 497 likes and 40 quotes on X.
FINDINGS
However when reached out to people at Obinze for confirmation to this claim, they were even surprised to learn this about information for the first time.
Also in a chat with our reporter on Wednesday night, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye debunked the claim.
Okoye said, “Fake news for now pls. We didn’t receive any report like this.
Continuing, “This news started on tweeter. With social media anyone can be a journalist. It’s not possible for pupils to be abducted or kidnapped without their parents running to the Police”.
VERDICT: The report of kidnappers hijacking school bus filled with pupils is fake and misleading.
