How False Alarm Threw Owerri Into Panic Mode

By Duru kizito

On Monday, October4, Imo’s blogosphere was littered with posts and comments alleging that Unknown Gunmen had taken over the city once more and that people were scappering for their safety. Typical of most users of social media platforms in Imo, and of course to the delight of the manufacturers of the false news, the story circulated like a whirldfire and soon the peaceful city of Owerri was in panic. Panic for no reason, one would say.

Till this minute, none of those who were quick to alert the public via their posts on the social media has stated in clear terms what happened and their encounter with the supposed Unknown Gunmen men. It was just a bandwagon effect, as if they were commissioned to create artificial tension in the city through the instrumentality of their posts and leveraging their social media reach. It appeared that they were opposed to the calmness that has been restored and enjoyed by the residents in the capital city, Owerri.

However, they weren’t coordinated in the quest to disturb the peace of the city. While some of them claimed they heard gunshots around Irete, some others said the attack was at Orji and some posited that it was Douglas, Wetheral and Amakohia that were under attack. Funny enough, there would always be one or two persons at the locations they mentioned who would comment on their posts that the area was calm and that there was no indication of any unrest.

Yours truly was at Wetheral when the news was flying and when I read one of them claiming that Wetheral Road was boiling, I looked around to confirm again that I was at Wetheral, as the place was very calm and people moving about freely. I had to put calls across to my friends and family members living in some other parts of the city to know the situation in their areas and most of them confirmed that there was no cause for alarm. Only one of them told me people were running at Douglas, she too had to run but like others, she had no idea of who/what was pursuing them nor how the race started.

Clearly, the panic wasn’t the handiwork of the Unknown Gunmen but the reaction of people after reading the social media that attacks were ongoing in the city. This is how fast fake news can travel and how quick people react to news without interrogating the bias of the news bearer and the authencity of his news.

But of course, like every other thing that is fake, their intention was short lived as people countered and challenged them to produced videos and pictures of the gunmen as they are wont to do in cases as such, they went mute and cut the figures of frustration. Clearly their lies had hardly sold before it got squashed by brilliant minds who saw beyond their words.

Unsurprisingly, it was the supporters of the opposition party in Imo, the PDP that spearheaded the narrative of Unknown Gunmen. While it is to my knowledge the roles of the opposition party to the ruling party, being against the State in the guise of playing opposition is not one of the roles an opposition party should assume.

Wishing for the State to burn to ashes and for people’s businesses to cripple is witchcraft and unpatriotism taken to a disasterous hieght. The energy and enthusiasm with which they went about spreading the fake news painted a picture of a people desirous to see the State attacked and dead bodies recorded. All these just to discredit the ruling government. Insanity has got no better definition!

One won’t be wrong to accuse them of sponsoring the series of attacks on the State some months ago. Their activities on Monday gave them out as the purveyors of the many fake news against the government of Imo State. This is petty politics.

Nevertheless, Imo State police command has issued a statement on the asad development. The statement read in parts:

“The Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, CP Rabiu Hussaini,psc, has enjoined Imo State indigenes and residents alike to be mindful of mischief makers who raise false alarm that are unfounded, as this could give room for hoodlums to vandalize properties and even endanger human lives. He attributed the fake news that made rounds today 04/10/2021, as a ploy by detractors of the state to cause pandemonium with the aim to destabilize the already achieved peace being enjoyed by Imolites.

“However, on the strength of the fake news, the Commissioner of Police in company of the Deputy Commissioner of Police incharge of Operations, immediately mobilized patrol teams and went out on confidence building patrol of the metropolis and ordered the DPOs in their various divisions to replicate same. Fortunately, the metropolis was crime free and citizens were seen going about their legitimate businesses.”

There is tension in the Southeast already and it should not be be escalated by anybody or a group of people just for political reasons. The economy in the Southeast has been on retrogression for some months and futher disruption of commercial activities by manufacturing and spreading false information is core insensitivity. Imo State is the only state we can proudly call ours and we should protect this peace we now enjoy in our dear state. Evil knows no political party. Any group that continues to give subtle or open support to evil will also be a victim of what they supported.