A 22-year-old bandit invasion alarmist found out the hard way that chasing social media clout with fake news carries real-world consequences.
The Osun State Police Command arrested him after he posted a video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the state.
According to a statement released on Friday by police spokesperson DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, the young man posted the video to his Facebook account on Monday.
The post instantly triggered widespread panic across the state, forcing the police to step in.
As it turns out, the video had absolutely nothing to do with bandits. When investigators looked into it, they found that the footage actually just showed a group of citizens trying to restrain someone dealing with a mental health crisis.
The police tracked the guy down and arrested him on Wednesday for violating the Cybercrimes Act.
However, he caught a massive break: after his elderly parents came forward and desperately pleaded on his behalf, the police decided to release him. He was let off with a stern warning and has since issued a public apology for the chaos he caused.
Following the incident, Osun Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, warned the public to stop sharing unverified information that incites fear or disrupts the peace, making it clear that the command has zero tolerance for people using digital platforms to spread harmful lies.
The police have of late doubled down on arresting individuals who raised baseless alarms about bandits invading some parts of the country.
Recently, police in a neighbouring state detained a TikTok creator who fabricated a late-night attack on a local community just to boost his follower count. He lied that bandits had entered Atan, Ogun State and filmed himself and another person running around inside a bush.
It turned out that it was all a make-belief. When caught by the police, he apologised and said he was only interested in boosting his followership on social media.
Similarly, the polic in Oyo arrested some individuals in connection with a false alarm about bandits invasion of a community. The alarm raised in a voicenote claimed that multiple people had been killed by the bandits.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Command, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka, in a statement on Monday, June 1, a team of policemen were sent to the community, but they could not see any evidence of banditry.
This led to an investigation of the source of the information and one Pastor Amos Joel Muyiwa, was arrested.
The cleric claimed he made a recording raising an alarm based on a report of a lady in the community. He admitted he did not verify the claims.
The said woman turned out to be one Mulikat Bashiru, who was also traced and arrested by the police.
The police said the suspects are currently cooperating with officers to uncover the full circumstances surrounding the incident and identify any other persons involved in creating or spreading the false report.
Read Also: Police arrest man over fake kidnapping video in Ogun
