Images purportedly depicting the condition of kidnapped pupils in Oyo State have been rejected by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.
Naija News is aware that images purportedly showing the kidnapped children have been making the rounds on social media.
Onanuga, however, claimed in a statement that the photos were not taken during the event.
He said that the images that went viral were abused children in Mali.
The presidential spokesperson stated that an analysis by Africa54Research revealed that the photos were taken in Mali in June 2020 during an event where a teacher was accused of flogging his children.
He claimed that some people are intentionally trying to deceive the public and incite fear regarding the kidnapping of pupils in Oyo State by disseminating the pictures.
“Some of the images being shared as those of the kidnapped schoolchildren of Oyo State were of maltreated children in Mali,” stated Onanuga.
According to an investigation by Africa54Research, images of a teacher flogging his young kids in Mali in June 2020 have been circulated on social media to trick people into thinking they are of the kidnapped Oyo students.
“As the government works to get the children and their teachers released, the distributors of the images are most likely terrorists’ sympathizers, out to sow fear in our society and paint the government and security forces black.”
