Patience Ogbo
The Lagos State police command said those behind the recent hoax text messages circulating in the state will soon be arrested.
Marvel Akpoyibo, the Commissioner of Police, said this in a press briefing at Ikeja on Thursday. Mr Akpoyibo stated that the police are liaising with the National Communications Commission (NCC), and mobile telephone service providers in the country, to fish out those behind the anonymous text messages which have caused panic and fear in the state in the last one week.
"You can recall that on the 2nd of August 2010, the Lagos State police Command issued a press release alerting the members of the public of an emerging but disturbing trend among unknown persons who are in the habit of originating and circulating unsolicited, spurious and sometimes frightening text messages among law abiding citizens of Lagos," he said. "These messages [are] usually sent using modern communication and IT devices such as GSM, voice messages and e-mail often times contain bogus and outright false information alerting members of the public of either an on-going crime or other forms of imminent dangers within the city."
The police boss said that despite appeals by the command that such mischievous text messages should cease, the trend has continued which has made the command to take urgent steps to halt the trend. "It is regrettable to note that these faceless groups appear unrelenting in their satanic mission of spreading these mischievous mails aimed at misleading and unnerving, law abiding citizens," he said. "A classical example is the recent false alarm raised about the supposed collapsed of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
The message circulated via GSM text read, Breaking news! The middle of Third Mainland Bridge just had a sharp crack and is about to collapse! Drivers beware! Send it to your loved ones...' TV is currently showing live update of this unfortunate occurrence; this information is not only false but also embarrassing and, therefore, must be halted."
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