The Nigerian Army has dismissed as false, the news making the rounds in the early hours of Wednesday in Akwa Ibom State that soldiers were in schools to forcefully vaccinate students.
The news caused panic, leading to teachers and students fleeing their schools.
Parents also abandoned whatever they were doing to pick their children from school.
Breaking the news earlier in the day, The Next Edition reported that apart from Oron, other local governments including Eket, Mbo and Orue Offong Uroko, were also affected with tension on the high side.
A source in Oron Local Government Area of the state, who gave his name simply as Eyoabasi, had told this newspaper that trouble started when the people saw vehicles conveying heavily-armed soldiers in the area.
But dispelling the news which caused tension, as a mere rumour, the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations Officer, Zone 2, Akwa Ibom State, Umar Shuaib, described the development as “callous and unpatriotic.”
In the military’s formal reaction contained in a statement issued on Wednesday, Shuaib announced that the Army was involved in its “Operation Crocodile Smile II” which was making remarkable progress in the state in terms of curbing criminal activities such as cultism and robbery in the state.
He said there was no plan by the military to move its medical outreach to vaccinate students in schools
The statement reads in part: “The attention of Headquarters 2 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to some rumours making the rounds that some Nigerian Army Personnel are going round schools in Akwa Ibom State dressed in Military Camouflage uniforms with the intention of forcefully vaccinating students with an unknown substance.
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“The callous and unpatriotic rumours spread by these enemies of state are, to say the least, despicable, deplorable and highly condemnable as they are intended to cause pandemonium among the general public.
“The authorities of 2 Brigade Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that the Brigade is currently involved in Operation Crocodile Smile II, which is yielding tremendous successes especially in curbing the excesses and activities of criminals, cultists and other miscreants in Akwa Ibom State which is being applauded by the affected communities.
“For emphasis therefore, the 2 Brigade Nigerian Army does not and will never carry out its medical outreaches or vaccination exercises for that matter in schools.
“We therefore wish to inform the public that the ongoing rumours about Nigerian Army Personnel in military camouflage going round schools in any part of Akwa Ibom State to forcefully immunize school children are false and should therefore be disregarded.”
Shuaib called on members of the public to report any case of imposter(s) that may be seen actually trying to commit such atrocity to the nearest military formation.
