Bayo Onanuga breaks silence on trending video of abducted school children

The Presidency has dismissed viral images circulating on social media and purportedly showing abducted schoolchildren in Oyo State, describing them as misleading and unrelated to the incident.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, said the photographs being shared online were actually taken in Mali in June 2020 and depicted children who had been physically punished by a teacher.

According to Onanuga, findings by Africa54Research use revealed that the images have been falsely presented as those of the recently abducted pupils in Oyo State.

“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,” Onanuga stated in a post on X.

He alleged that those circulating the images were likely sympathisers of criminal elements seeking to spread fear and undermine public confidence in the government and security agencies.

“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,” he said.

The presidential aide stressed that the government and security agencies are actively working to secure the release of the abducted pupils and their teachers.

The clarification comes amid heightened public concern over the abduction, with authorities urging citizens to verify information before sharing it on social media to avoid the spread of misinformation.