By Florencemary Nwabueze
Banana Island School has denied claims circulating in a viral video that several people were trapped inside an elevator within its premises, clarifying that the incident did not occur at the school.
The video, which spread widely on social media on Monday, shows a man sweating heavily while speaking from inside a stuck elevator with three others whom he said are his wife, Mary and barrister Emmanuel, Mr. Sunshine and his cousin, Funso Johnson, trapped in the elevator. He claimed that they had been stocked for about 40 minutes and were struggling to breathe.
In the recording, the man alleged that they had contacted the landlady’s daughter who said ‘they will see what they can do’. He also alleged that the school principal had come to the scene and said that efforts were being made to resolve the situation.
The incident which was alleged to has been caused by failed power supply, quickly generated concern online, with many social media users fearing for the lives of the victims and lamenting on recent power outage and grill collapse in Nigeria.
However, when The Warden contacted the management of Banana Island School on telephone, they dismissed the claim, stating that the incident did not happen at the school.
According to the school, the building where the elevator reportedly malfunctioned occurred is located beside the school but is not part of its premises.
The school also emphasized that it does not have any elevator facility in the school building, and further stated that while they could not immediately confirm the condition of the individuals shown in the viral video, the situation had since been resolved.
“We don’t have confirmation of the condition of the victims. The situation was resolved yesterday, and nobody died. There is no elevator in the school. The incident occurred in the building beside the school.”
The clarification comes amid growing concerns about misinformation on social media, where the video was widely shared with claims linking the incident directly to Banana Island School.