General News of Sunday, 15 March 2015
Source: Graphic Online
The Ghana Police Service has dismissed rumours of an imminent terror attack in Ghana following an alleged invasion of the country by some 70 Nigerians who were carrying bombs on them.
The police were reacting to a hoax text which had been widely published on social media.
The text message read “the information reaching our ministry, just now is that 73 Nigerians arrived in Ghana with fake travelling passports claiming to be Ghanaians, two were caught, but 71 escaped and after screening the two that were caught, they found out they were having bomb on them (Sic).”
The message further appealed to the whole country to be aware of strangers and also avoid overcrowding.
Additionally, the text claimed that “we are seriously into an investigation to find out where exactly those people might be hiding because we heard they have already attacked a mall village near Danyi, near Greater Accra Region. We are therefore informing the public to inform us immediately you get any information about these people. Inform us through our police number 999. House owners, hotel managers and other institutions should, therefore, inform the police as soon as possible when there is any doubt.”
The message, which was signed by Inspector Dan K.J. Amsah, also urged recipients to forward it to their loved ones.
The Public Relation Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent of Police, Cephas Arthur, confirmed that the message was a “definite hoax”, saying “it’s an attempt to cause fear and panic in the country. We are safe.”
He identified some loopholes in the text message such as the police emergency number which was written as 999.
But Mr Arthur said “the Police emergency number was not 999 but 911.”
He also indicated that since the message failed to state which ministry had issued it, the message had “no credible source.”
Such rumours are not uncommon. The only thing that gives the recent message any credence is the rate at which people were re-tweeting and circulating them on other social media platforms.
Sources close to the Police Administration and National Security have indicated that investigations were ongoing.