Hundreds of residents stormed the Gumel Local Government Secretariat in Jigawa State on Tuesday following the circulation of a viral social media message claiming that holders of COVID-19 vaccination cards would receive a N75,000 cash grant from the government.
The development caused massive excitement among residents across several communities, prompting many people to abandon their daily businesses and travel long distances to the secretariat in anticipation of the purported payment. However, hopes quickly turned into disappointment when the crowd discovered that the information was false and that no such grant programme existed.
Eyewitnesses said large numbers of people began arriving at the secretariat as early as morning hours, clutching their COVID-19 vaccination cards and expecting officials to commence verification and payment. The rumour, which spread rapidly through WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms, had instructed residents to report to the local government secretariat with their vaccination cards to collect the alleged financial support.
The message reportedly gained credibility because millions of residents across the state had participated in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign conducted between 2021 and 2023. During the nationwide vaccination exercise, residents received doses of the vaccine at designated centres located in health facilities across the 287 wards of the state and were issued official vaccination cards as proof of inoculation.
Many residents who gathered at the secretariat said they believed the message because similar intervention programmes had previously been implemented by government agencies and humanitarian organisations during and after the pandemic. One of the residents, Idris Sani, said he travelled from his village located about 15 kilometres away after receiving the message on WhatsApp.
According to him, he arrived at the secretariat early in the morning only to discover that there was no arrangement for any payment. “I saw on WhatsApp that Corona card holders will collect N75,000 today.
I came early but found nothing here,” he said. Another resident, Maryamu Salisu, expressed frustration over the situation, saying she was disappointed after spending both time and transport money based on false information. She lamented that many struggling families had placed hope in the rumoured grant because of the current economic hardship facing citizens.
“We believed it because life is difficult now and people are looking for any opportunity to survive. When we came here, there was nothing,” she said. Some residents were seen expressing anger over the spread of false information, while others blamed social media users for circulating unverified claims capable of misleading vulnerable members of the public.
Observers at the scene noted that security personnel and local government officials had difficulty controlling the growing crowd as more people continued arriving despite repeated announcements that no grant programme existed. The incident has once again highlighted the dangers of misinformation and fake announcements circulating on social media platforms, particularly in rural communities where many residents rely heavily on forwarded messages for information.
Community leaders urged residents to always verify information from credible government sources before acting on messages shared online. They also called on authorities to intensify public enlightenment campaigns aimed at educating citizens on how to identify false information and avoid falling victim to online rumours and scams.
Some residents appealed to the government to improve communication channels and provide quicker clarification whenever false information capable of causing panic or confusion begins trending online. The incident also reflects the level of economic hardship facing many citizens, as the promise of financial assistance was enough to attract large crowds within a short period.
As of the time of filing this report, officials of the local government had yet to issue any formal statement regarding the incident, though residents had gradually dispersed after realising the claim was untrue.
