By John Ogunsemore
The Nigeria Police Force has addressed a viral video on social media showing a uniformed schoolgirl smoking, saying information at its disposal indicated she is from Zimbabwe and not Nigeria as widely speculated.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi disclosed this in a statement issued early Thursday.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to a deeply concerning video currently 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.”
Adejobi said the evidence supporting this conclusion included the language spoken within the video.
He noted that individuals featured were 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 discernible 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,” he added.
The force spokesman urged the public to exercise caution when sharing unverified information, particularly when it involves sensitive content and carries the potential to negatively impact individuals, organisations, and entire communities.
“The force strongly encourages responsible sharing of information and thorough verification of sources before amplifying potentially harmful claims,” Adejobi stressed.