*debunks video, says it’s visual hoax
By; NIYI OGUNGBOLA, Abeokuta
Ogun State Government has debunked the video being circulated on some social media platforms that bandits have taken over Ogere-Remo forest in the state.
The video, claimed to have been recorded by drones, and which is two minutes, 50 seconds, showed some men cooking on fire in a bush.
But a statement on Wednesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State Governor, Kunle Somorin, described the video as fake and not recorded in any forest in the state.
Somorin, said the video was nothing but another ploy by enemies of progress to create a wrong impression that the state is unsafe.
A fact check on the said video, according to the statement, was that of the General Service Unit (GSU) drone which captured armed cattle rustlers hiding with stolen livestock on April 4 in Kenya, East Africa.
Somorin added that the bandits who were seen making breakfast tried to shoot down the drone when they noticed it was recording them.
He, however, wondered how some persons whose stock-in-trade is spreading fake news and raise false alarm, imploring the people to see the video as another feeble attempt to smear the good records of Governor Abiodun-led administration.
Somorin noted that Ogun, under the leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun, has not only been adjudged as the safest state to live in, but most serene to conduct businesses without fear.
The governor’s CPS further said Abiodun-led administration has also attracted more investors to the state via infrastructure, security and business-friendly policies, which according to him has made Ogun highest in the country in terms of Foreign Direct Investment.
Somorin added that to ensure that Ogun remains safest to live, work and play, the governor, on assumption of office, quickly reinvigorated the State Security Trust Fund by making it private sector driven.
He stated further that apart from purchasing patrol vehicles fitted with communication gadgets for security agencies, the governor relaunched OP-MESA, to enhance the security architecture of the state.
While calling on the residents of the state to disregard the video and its content, which he said is a “fabricated lie and deliberate attempt” to discredit the good work of Governor Abiodun, assured that the incumbent administration will continue to ensure security of lives and property of the people.
He submitted that though the video is false, security operatives will be immediately deployed to the location mentioned, to prove to the residents that the video is nothing but hoax.
