The Ogun State Police Command has debunked the alleged presence of bandits in a forest within the state as captured in a viral video.
The Command labelled the footage as “false, misleading, and recycled.”
It maintained that the footage does not orignate from Ogun or any part of Nigeria.
This was made known in a statement issued on Sunday by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi.
According to the statement, preliminary findings and credible fact-checks reveal that the footage, which shows some individuals cooking in a bush setting, was recorded in Kenya during an operation involving cattle rustlers and was captured by a General Service Unit (GSU) drone.
Further verification indicated that the video was first uploaded online in 2022 and has since been deliberately recirculated with a false narrative to create panic and misinform the public about the security situation in Ogun State.
Reacting the development, the Ogun Police Commissioner, Bode Ojajuni, condemned the spread of what he described as “unverified and deceptive content”.
Ojajuni, according to Babaseyi, warned that the criculation of such falsehood is capable of causing unnecessary fear and undermining public confidence in security agencies.
Theh police chief emphasised that there is no intelligence or operational report to support the claim of any such criminal presence within forests or any part of Ogun State.
He reassured residents that the Command remains proactive and committed to ensuring the safety and security of lives and property through intelligence-led policing, strategic deployments, and sustained operational vigilance across the state.
The Command again urged members of the public to disregard the viral video and its accompanying false claims, and to refrain from sharing unverified information capable of inciting panic or disrupting public peace.
It also advised citizens to rely only on official communication channels for credible and accurate security updates.