The Nigeria Police Force has issued a public rebuttal about the origin and characters of the students in a viral video.
The footage which is still circulating on social media shows teenage students in school uniform cheering a colleague who was celebrating her birthday as she took huge puffs from a smoking hard drug suspected to be cannabis.
They sang and cheered counting each puff until they got to her new age.
Speaking via a statement published by the Force spokesperson, Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
THE PRESS RELEASE
The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to a deeply concerning video circulating on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, depicting a school-aged girl smoking what appears to be cannabis, surrounded and cheered on by her classmates.
The video has been widely shared with captions suggesting the incident occurred within a Nigerian school, prompting significant concern, and anxiety amongst Nigerian parents and the wider community. However, preliminary investigation into its origin strongly suggests that the video did not originate in Nigeria, with multiple indicators pointing towards the video’s likely origin being in Zimbabwe.
The evidence supporting this conclusion includes the language spoken within the video. Individuals featured are heard speaking in both English and Shona, the latter being a language predominantly spoken in Zimbabwe and parts of southern Africa. Critically, no Nigerian languages or discernable Nigerian accents are present in the audio. Furthermore, the original upload of the video was accompanied by a caption written in Shona, with its initial posting on the Instagram channel @rusape_celebs_tv, a channel which is demonstrably based in the town of Rusape, Zimbabwe.
We urge the public to exercise caution when sharing unverified information, particularly when it involves sensitive content and carries the potential to negatively impact individuals, organizations, and entire communities. The Force strongly encourages responsible sharing of information and thorough verification of sources before amplifying potentially harmful claims.
ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi
FPRO, FHQ
ABUJA.
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