Panic in Sango Ota as False Bandits Alarm Triggers Rush to Schools

 

Commotion and panic gripped Sango Ota and environs on Tuesday morning after reports of a bandits’ attack near schools went viral, triggering a mass rush by parents and guardians to pick up their children.

The incident has reignited calls for public sensitization on misinformation on social media, especially with the abduction of the 46 students and teachers in Oriire local government area of Oyo State.

Eyewitnesses said the alarm spread rapidly through WhatsApp groups and social media at mid-day, claiming that armed men had been sighted close to several schools in the Ota axis. 

The ugly development forced parents to abandon their works and businesses to storm schools, causing heavy traffic and confusion along Idiroko Road, Sango Roundabout, and Oju-Ore.

“We just started getting calls and voice notes that bandits were entering schools in Ota. I dropped everything and ran to my children’s school,” said Mrs. Funke Adeyemi, a parent at one of the affected private schools. 

“By the time I got there, the school gate was already filled with cars and parents shouting for their children.”

Security operatives and school management were forced to calm the situation as students were hurriedly released to their parents. Some schools temporarily shut down activities for the day to prevent further panic.

School proprietors asked the parents to rely only on official communication channels from schools and security agencies for updates.

However, Ogun State Police Command has described the security alert as false.

Spokesman of the State Police Command, Oluseyi Babaseyi, while speaking with NEWSREPORTER, said there was no attack, abduction, or sighting of bandits in Sango Ota. 

Babaseyi urged the residents to verify information before sharing and warned that spreading false alarms could cause unnecessary panic and disrupt public peace. 

“There is no report of any bandits’ incursion in Sango Ota. The command is on ground and the area remains safe,”