The Delta State Government has debunked social media reports that a youth was shot by the Police in Ughelli last Saturday.
Briefing journalists on Monday in Asaba, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu and Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Ifeanyi Egwuyenga, said that there was no iota of truth in the report.
Aniagwu appealed to media practitioners to always verify their stories and ensure that what was published was the fact.
He said that the government owed it a duty to continue to promote security of lives and property and would ensure that the security agencies operate in a civil and democratic manner.
The commissioner said that it was the duty of the police and other security agencies to protect the people, adding that people should also respect them to ensure a peaceful environment.
He berated bloggers on social media for rushing to press without proper investigation, adding that there was need for journalists to exercise restraint before publishing their reports to avoid falsehood.
“Nobody was killed by police or any security agent in Ughelli; the youth, who was arrested by the police jumped out of the police vehicle and hit his head against something before being rushed to the hospital.
“The young man did not die, he is being attended to at the hospital in Ughelli.
“As a government, while we plead with the security agencies to always be civil and democratic in their approach, we also advise the people to show respect to security personnel.
“In as much as we appreciate that social media has done well and is a medium for youths to dissipate their energy, they must not use it as a platform for mischief and misinformation, but rather it should be used positively,” he said.
On his part, Egwuyega, said that the Ughelli incident came with lots of backlashes, but thanked God that the youths exercised restraints by not taking laws into their hands to disrupt social and economic activities in the area due to the misleading report.
He charged the youth to direct their energies to positive use by identifying and taking advantage of the various opportunities provided by the state government to develop themselves.
“I want to commend the youths of Ughelli for not acting out of control based on the falsehood.
“Youths have lots of energy and they can dissipate their energies both negatively and positively, but I want to urge the youths to use their energies positively,” Egwuyega said.