An unidentified person has stirred up panic and confusion with his recent message, which allegedly claimed that the outgoing Governor of Enugu State, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has recruited some non state actors to ensure he wins his senatorial election at all cost. According to the post in question, this alleged act has created palpable fears and tension in Udenu Local Government of Enugu State as people are now afraid to come out to vote for fear of their lives.
The post went further to allege that the outgoing Governor who is desperate to win his senatorial election has allegedly recruited some armed boys, including members of a cult group, through his loyal boys, including the local government chairman of Udenu as alleged in the post, to deal decisively with people, including shooting at them simply because they have made up their minds not to vote the governor in Saturday’s election.
This news which is yet to be verified regards its authenticity has continued to generate mixed reactions across all boards, including from the police public relation officer of Enugu State Police Command, Daniel Ndukwe. Though he has gone ahead to query the poster on some confusing portion of the said post, including if it is everyone in the said Udenu who have agreed not to vote for the said candidate, and if the hired cult members are going to shoot and kill everyone, including those who have agreed to vote for the Presidential and house of Representatives candidates in Saturday’s election?
On the other hand, while reacting to the comment by some other person on same post, PPRO Daniel Ndukwe advised that we must not allow people to just come on social media platforms to type whatever they like, especially such inflammatory comments that is capable of triggering unnecessary panic, more especially at a time like this. He also stated that misinformation has caused a lot of troubles for the country.
Meanwhile, as a trademark characteristic of most political elections, especially in this part of the world, we have seen lots of both verified and unverified news/stories otherwise known as fake news, and this year’s election is not devoid of such antecedents. We have seen such scenario play out consistently across different political party divides, of which most are either aimed at heating up the polity or a way of getting at the members or candidates of the other political parties.
