By: Tunji Okunlola
Kwara State Police Commissioner Ojo Adekimi has condemned the spread of a fake bandit invasion alert that triggered mass panic at schools in the Oke-Oyi area of Ilorin on Thursday.
The false alarm traced to a woman who reportedly ran into the premises of Government Girls Secondary School claiming bandits had arrived in the area sent parents rushing to pull their children out of class and caused a temporary shutdown of academic activities across affected schools in the Ilorin East Local Government Area.
Police were swift to respond. The Divisional Police Officer for Oke-Oyi mobilised personnel to the scene within minutes of receiving reports of the commotion at around 9:15 a.m. Investigations confirmed there was no attack, no bandit sighting and no security breach either within the schools or anywhere else in the community.
“There was no bandit attack, no sighting of bandits, and no security breach within the school or anywhere in Oke-Oyi community or Kwara State,” said SP Adetoun Ejire Adeyemi, the command’s Public Relations Officer.
Commissioner Adekimi warned that the circulation of false security alerts risks creating fear and public disorder, erodes confidence in official information channels, and can divert critical resources away from genuine emergencies.
The command said it had begun efforts to identify the individual who raised the alarm, adding that the person would be invited for questioning and prosecuted under laws relating to the spread of false information and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace.
Residents were urged to remain calm and vigilant, to verify security-related information through official channels before sharing it, and to report suspicious activity to the nearest police formation.
Tags: #Kwara police command #Ojo Adekimi #Oke-Oyi