There was panic in the south-east yesterday after parents invaded schools to withdraw their wards over rumours that students were been injected with a killer vaccine.
A mother scaling a fence in Anambra state to withdraw her kid from school yesterday
A mother was seen in Anambra state scaling the fence of a school building to withdraw her child from school after news spread like wild fire that the free medical scheme embarked by the Nigerian army in the south-east in continuation of the operation 'python dance II' was to allegedly depopulate the region.
It was gathered that panic arose after news broke that the students were allegedly being forced to take the vaccines in schools. But, the army debunked the story saying there was no iota of truth in the report.
In Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra and Delta, students were forced to abandon academic activities as information spread that the vaccination exercise was meant to send schoolchildren to early graves.
Anambra State, Governor Willie Obiano, ordered the army to stop the outreach in the state.
Deputy Director, Public Relations, 82 Division, Enugu, Col. Sagir Musa, in a statement on Wednesday, said the free medical outreach, being conducted by the army as part of Operation Python Dance 2, “was not harmful to anyone”.
The statement read, “The free medical outreach is not a vaccine intended to infect South-East people with monkeypox or any major contemporary or emerging disease.
“The exercise is part of the corporate social responsibility initiatives imbued into the overall Exercise EGWU EKE 11 (Operation Python Dance 2) package to the people of the South-East region which is the area of responsibility of the 82 Division, Nigerian Army, and is also the theatre of the exercise.
“Instructively, the free medical services in the region started on September 18, 2017, in Nkwaagu community of Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
“The wicked, ill-motivated rumour is the handiwork of unpatriotic elements who can go to any lengths to discredit the noble services of the Nigerian Army in the region, and they will not succeed.
“The public is hereby requested to disregard the wicked rumour for the good of the people.”