Nigerian journalism is enmeshed in yet another blemish caused by fake news syndrome as management of Crescent University, Abeokuta debunks and dismisses a publication trended in some online media platforms as mere rumour and wishful thinking of mischief makers.
Members of vigilante group.
The published rumour making the rounds on some social media platforms were that the institution was using the Army to invigilate its second semester examination.
It had insinuated that the institution was using soldiers to harass and scare students in and around the examination halls.
But a release by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr. Idris Katib, stressed that “contrary to a fake news trending online that Crescent University, Abeokuta had deployed the military to invigilate its second semester examination for the 2018/19 academic session, the university only augmented the internal security staff with some men of the vigilante to stem the tide of fake school receipts and examination clearances.”
According to the release, “the incidence of forged examination clearance and school fees’ receipts by some students necessitated the policy of “No full payment, no examination” by the university, since the university was being owed about N100 million.”
The release stressed that “students who either have not fully prepared for their examination or have not completed payment of their school fees would always find an excuse to get examination disrupted”, tagging the Army invigilation story as “yellow and irresponsible journalism lacking in substance, balance and fairness”.
The university also advised both conventional and online journalists to always verify facts from all sources before publishing
