There was confusion in some public and private schools in Benin City, the Edo State capital as parents stormed various schools to forcefully take their children and wards home.It was gathered that the panic started at Army Day Secondary in Oregbeni quarters when some parents heard that the Nigeria Army was carrying out vaccination exercise.

The parents said they were told that the MonkeyPox virus was being injected into the students. I can assure you 100% that most of the parents we saw running to get their kids from school against army vaccination plan in Edo, Bayelsa and parts of Delta get their news from Radio Biafra. One parent who was in panic and has Radio Biafra app playing on her phone said " she got wind of the news of planned vaccination and also confirmed on it Radio Biafra, so she ran to her ward school." Several others at the scene expressed the same opinion.

Sources at the school said denial by the school authorities did not stop parents from taking their children away.
At Idia College, rumours that three students die of Monkeypox infection made parents rushed to the school to take their children home.In some primary schools like Olua and Emokpae, the school authorities locked parents out and refused to open the gate. The school authorities simply told the parents to return during closing hours to pick up their children.

There was also attempts by parents to take their children away from Oghosa High School, Edokpolor Grammar School, Crystal Fountain Group of School and Olua Primary School.One of the parents who identified herself simply as Mrs. Chiazor said: “I came to school because I heard that the killer vaccines are already at the Oredo local government secretariat for onward transmission to schools.”When asked where she got the information, Mrs. Chiazor replied: it’s on radio. Children also died in Anambra after they were vaccinated.”



Edo Police spokesman, DSP Moses Nkombe, who confirmed the rush by parents to take away their children said there was no vaccination exercise in schools in the state.Nkombe warned parents to stop acting on fake information from the social media.Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Communication and Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said there was no reported case of Monkeypox infection in the state.Crusoe said steps have been taken to tackle the disease if there was any occurrence.He said there was no vaccination exercise currently going on in the state.



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