By Sunday Okobi
*Delta Govt, Police debunk rumour, say ‘No cause for
alarm’
Many schools in Asaba and other parts of Delta
State were on Wednesday forced to shut down hurriedly as rumours of suspicious
persons in military uniforms allegedly invading some schools in neighboring Anambra
State to immunize school children against Monkey Pox spread.
The outbreak of Monkey Pox has been reported in
some states in southern parts of Nigeria in the last couple of weeks but Wednesday’s
rumoured suspicious vaccination in Anambra State allegedly carried out by armed
soldiers was said to have led to unconfirmed death of some pupils.
As the rumour breezed into Asaba, concerned parents
and guardians rushed to primary and secondary schools in the capital city and
environs and forcibly took their children and wards away.
South-east states as still smarting from the
special military operation by the Nigerian military tagged: ‘Python Dance’
apparently aimed to humble Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) agitators, and
the presence of armed military personnel reportedly administering medical
services on unspecified number of school children in the state.
Reactions to the rumours in Asaba reportedly began
as early as 11:30a.m. when telephone calls and text messages began to fly around
with anxious parents seen running helter-skelter to schools to ensure the
safety of their children and wards.
The highpoint of the panic triggered by the rumours
was the reported knocking down of the gate of Uzoigwe Primary School on the
popular Nnebisi Road within Asaba metropolis as parents defied attempts by the
teachers and school authorities to calm their fears and began taking the pupils
home hurriedly.
Although, no single case of military personnel
trying to administer any vaccine on school pupils was reported anywhere in
Delta State, anxious parents defended their action as precautionary, saying it
was meant to prevent them from being administered with the suspicious vaccines
or any other medicines.
It was also gathered that the authorities of some
school invaded by parents had no other choice than to begin calling other
parents to alert them to the situation and inviting them to come for their own
children and wards as most schools had been practically deserted by noon well
ahead of normal closing hours.
It was learnt that similar situation was recorded
in neighboring towns of Illah, Ibusa, Ogwashi-Uku and Issele-Uku and Agbor.
Delta State Ministry of Information was inundated
by anxious calls from parents and members of the public with the Commissioner
for Information, Patrick Ukah rushing out of a function in Asaba to quickly
issue a public statement debunking the rumour and assuring the public that
there was no iota of truth in the Monkey Pox rumour.
The statement issued by Ukah read: “It has come to
the attention of the Delta State Government that parents and guardians are
withdrawing their children and wards from schools following unsubstantiated
rumours of students and pupils being lethally injected by unknown persons.
“Government states without equivocation that the
rumour is absolutely false and baseless. There has been no such reported
incident in any school in Delta State. We advise parents and guardians to
remain calm and go about their normal businesses.
“Meanwhile, the state government urges all school
heads to take appropriate measures to secure their schools and ensure that
students and pupils are properly accounted for until the close of school every
day.
“Also, the state government is, by this
announcement, calling on all security agencies to be on the alert to forestall
the antics of mischief makers who may want to take advantage of this false
rumour to cause panic and havoc.”
Ibrahim stated this in a statement on the “false
rumours going round that security agencies were engaged in forceful vaccination/injection
of school children with suspected substances in neighbouring Anambra State, and
are likely to come to schools in Delta State to do so.
“The rumour is spurious and orchestrated by
mischievous elements whose sole aim is to cause unnecessary panic in an
otherwise peaceful and orderly state.”
He called on Deltans to disregard the rumours and
go about their lawful businesses.
Only on Tuesday, the state Commissioner for Health,
Dr. Nicholas Azinge, had advised citizens in the state not to panic in the
light of the reported outbreak of Monkey Pox disease in some neighbouring
states.
Azinge had in a statement assured the state that the government
had made adequate arrangements to prevent and curtail the outbreak of the
disease in the state.
He added that the state government in collaboration with the
World Health Organization (WHO) has sensitized the Disease Surveillance
Officers in the 25 council areas in the state last week while the sensitisation
of other health workers, and radio and television jingles to inform the general
public is being planned.
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