The Federal Government has announced that it has launched a manhunt for the author of a fake press release, circulated on social media, that primary and secondary schools nationwide would resume in November 2020 as a result of the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.
Disowning the social media post in a statement in Abuja, the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Ben Goong, urged Nigerians to disregard the fake notice, saying that the author was believed to be mentally unstable.
Ben explained that the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu, could not have signed a press release where the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Sonny Echono, granted an interview to a reporter from an online medium, as claimed in the fake release.
The ministry’s spokesman reiterated that the release calling for schools to resume by November 2020 as a result of the pandemic spread was fake and should be discountenanced.
The release reads: “The Federal Ministry of Education has disowned a press release circulating on multiple social media platforms insinuating that schools will reopen in November 2020, describing the release as the handiwork of an illiterate, who, going by the content of his release also appears to be mental.
“The ministry is asking parents, students and the general public to disregard the release in its entirety, adding that there is no iota of truth about the release. Efforts are on to track the author, and he or she will be prosecuted.
“We could have ignored the release but for the massive calls from our education correspondents, parents and other stakeholders expressing concerns.”
