The Public Relations Officer of the Gombe State Police Command, Abdullahi Buhari, has debunked a viral social media post that claimed youths in Gombe State were mobilising to confront insurgents.
The video, which circulated widely on Facebook, attracted significant attention after some social media users interpreted the gunshots heard in the footage as a warning to insurgents.
The accompanying post read: “Gombe is ready to protect itself. Nigerians are ready to face the monster and that’s the bravest way to eliminate it. Fish out all the collaborators within, then face the dragon and slay it. If you have to dig out the gods of your forefathers, do it. The fact is the state police is no longer a debate, it’s a must!”
However, speaking on 𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑎𝑦, Buhari dismissed the claim, explaining that the video was taken during a traditional Islamic festival celebration and had no connection to security operations or preparations for any confrontation with insurgents.
According to him, the gunshots were fired by local hunters as part of customary festivities held to honour the Emir of Gombe during Eid celebrations.
“That was a video done by hunters in celebration of the Islamic celebration. It’s usually done to celebrate either Eid-el-Kabir or Eid-el-Fitr in the state. They did that to usher the Emir of Gombe. If you noticed, the environment is around the kofa (premises) of the king,” Buhari said.
He urged members of the public to verify information before sharing it, warning against the spread of misinformation capable of causing unnecessary panic and confusion.
“I have seen that video. It’s a description of the event in the video. They wrote an entirely different thing from what was happening in the video. I guess it was written to get traffic and confuse the public. If you listened to what was said, the description was wrong,” he added.
The police spokesperson reiterated the command’s commitment to maintaining peace and security in the state and cautioned social media users against spreading unverified information.
