The Presidency has dismissed viral photos circulating on social media as claims of abducted schoolchildren from Oyo State, clarifying that the pictures actually show maltreated pupils in Mali from a 2020 incident.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, made the clarification in a post on his X handle, noting that some of the images being shared online do not reflect the recent kidnapping in Oyo State.
According to him, fact-checks revealed that the photos originated from Mali in June 2020, when a teacher was reported to have flogged students, but have now been wrongly repurposed to suggest they depict abducted Nigerian pupils.
“Pictures taken in Mali in June 2020, when a teacher flogged his young students, have been shared on social media to make people believe they are the pictures of the abducted Oyo students, an analysis has revealed,” Onanuga wrote.
He further alleged that those circulating the images may be attempting to spread fear and discredit government efforts in responding to the abduction.
“The distributors of the images are most probably terrorists’ sympathisers, out to sow fears in our society and paint the government and the security forces black, as the government is making efforts to get the kids and their teachers released,” he said.
