False Alarm About Lake Awing Explosion

-Populations Consume huge Quantities of Palm Oil as Prevention  

By Njodzefe Nestor in B’da

Consume huge Quantities of Palm Oil as Prevention

Fake reports and rumors of an explosion of Lake Awing spread through text messaging and social media threw the population of the North West region and some surrounding regions into shock and pandemonium on the eve of National Day on May 19, 2018.

            The panic started at about 2am when residents, many who were enjoying their peaceful sleep, received striking alerts on their cell phones through text messaging and social media likewise calls that Lake Awing in Santa Sub Division, Mezam Division had exploded releasing a poisonous gas into the air and had started suffocating people.

            This fake alert was later relayed through word of mouth and in no time almost the entire region was up awaiting what will happen in the coming hours. People across the region were terrified. Many assumed they would die, but however took necessary precautions to avert it.

            A few people had tweeted and posted Facebook statuses showing the message but no news stories or official announcements could be found online in the crucial minutes after it lit up smartphones across the region. When the trickle of social-media posts became a deluge, the situation only became more baffling.

            It was not only after about six hours that it was officially announced that the information was fake. Those six hours were the six worst hours of many North West residents’ lives. And they were just as horrifying for people outside of the North West who felt helpless as they contended with the prospect of never seeing their loved ones again.

            With the (un)usual silence of the government, the Ndong Awing Cultural and Development Association (NACDA) was forced to counter the fake news with a distress press release in which it emphatically declared that the “alleged explosion in Lake Awing is incorrect”.

            “His Royal Majesty Fozo II Awing was at the lake early this morning 19th May 2018 and found the lake calm. He also talked to those living around the lake who denied having heard or witnessed any explosion in or around the lake last night”, the release reads.

            The response, although timely enough to quell the spread of the fake news, was too late to inform the population who had resulted to massive intuitive consumption of palm oil as a preventive move.

            Conflicting preventive measures advanced by these false alerts included consumption of various quantities of palm oil and applying it around the nostrils. During the event of the pandemonium, there was solidarity in sharing of the palm oil.

            It was only after about six hours that many discovered that the information was fake. It came just some days after a fake press release allegedly signed by the Governor of the North West region went viral calling on the population to leave the evacuate the region because of impending hostilities.

            The fake information alert was certainly a wake-up call for residents, particularly those who until now hadn’t paid much attention to the  latest information campaign.  “I’m not even really mad at the guy who initiated the message,” said a journalist in Bamenda who refused to be named. “I think it’s great because this is going to spur discussions.”

Tracking 'Fake news' in Cameroon

            The above and many other examples indicate the threat posed by fake news to Cameroon, and also how much policy makers have to struggle to correct false impressions of ignorant citizens acquired from fake news.

            The term "fake news" has been used widely during the crisis that have rocked the North West and South West regions with most of what has been classified under the term playing out online.

            Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are perhaps the three most popular social media platforms in Cameroon, and have been used to share opinions and fabrications alike during the crisis.

            There have been websites as well, designed to give the impression that they are authoritative sources of news, that have carried all sorts of (mis)information and propaganda.