I knew immediately it was a prank. For example; why would any killer in his right senses drop the corpse of his victim in broad daylight and then left the deceased’s school ID card at the scene?
If it was true, why didn’t the person spreading the news, took snapshots of the alleged killers or even picture of their black jeep? Two weeks ago, the pranksters targeted two schools, one in Mushin and the other, at Surulere.
The story was that Boko Haram attacked one of the schools and kidnapped 10 pupils, while in the second school, Boko Haram ‘massacred’ 10 pupils.
The pranksters had parents from both schools, running crazy, just to be able to reach their kids and wards and confirm that their kids were not one of the ‘victims.’ Indeed, some parents left their places of works and trades to dash to these schools.
I spoke with a parent who said she heard it on the radio. Can you just beat that? Any responsible journalist should verify such stories before rushing to disseminate same to members of the public. The rule in journalism is that you should ‘leave out,’ if you’re not sure of your facts.
While there’s little or nothing we can do on how people make use of their BBM, we can however help the situation by not broadcasting what we’re not sure of, whenever such broadcasts get to us. I recently asked the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko what security measures could be taken against such pranksters and he gave me a very depressing answer.
He said: “We can’t do anything about social media network users. We can’t police it. What we can do however is to let members of the public know the truth, that such rumours are not true! We however urge people not to create panic.
People should learn to provide relevant and accurate information.” If the police can’t help in checking these pranksters, and in turn check eventual cardiac arrests induced by panic, we can help ourselves by being responsible users of BBM.
08189679439
If it was true, why didn’t the person spreading the news, took snapshots of the alleged killers or even picture of their black jeep? Two weeks ago, the pranksters targeted two schools, one in Mushin and the other, at Surulere.
The story was that Boko Haram attacked one of the schools and kidnapped 10 pupils, while in the second school, Boko Haram ‘massacred’ 10 pupils.
The pranksters had parents from both schools, running crazy, just to be able to reach their kids and wards and confirm that their kids were not one of the ‘victims.’ Indeed, some parents left their places of works and trades to dash to these schools.
I spoke with a parent who said she heard it on the radio. Can you just beat that? Any responsible journalist should verify such stories before rushing to disseminate same to members of the public. The rule in journalism is that you should ‘leave out,’ if you’re not sure of your facts.
While there’s little or nothing we can do on how people make use of their BBM, we can however help the situation by not broadcasting what we’re not sure of, whenever such broadcasts get to us. I recently asked the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko what security measures could be taken against such pranksters and he gave me a very depressing answer.
He said: “We can’t do anything about social media network users. We can’t police it. What we can do however is to let members of the public know the truth, that such rumours are not true! We however urge people not to create panic.
People should learn to provide relevant and accurate information.” If the police can’t help in checking these pranksters, and in turn check eventual cardiac arrests induced by panic, we can help ourselves by being responsible users of BBM.
08189679439
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