Obasanjo reacts to the false news of his son's death in the plane crash

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was temporarily thrown into confusion yesterday due to a rumour being spread that his son, Gbenga, had died in yesterday’s ill-fated Associated Airlines plane.

The false news reportedly filtered quickly around Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, where Chief Obasanjo resides, and had already begun to cause widespread panic before it was nipped in the bud.

The rumour was reportedly started and spread though social media with the former president receiving a phone call to confirm the veracity of the claims.

The Sun reports:

Obasanjo was in a photo session with primary schools pupils, who had attended a leadership training programme for young leaders, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Kuto in Abeokuta when the sad news came through a telephone call. The attention of journalists covering the event was drawn to the sudden change of the former president’s countenance.

During  the conversation with his caller, which lasted few seconds, Obasanjo, who was apparently disturbed asked his caller in Yoruba “Gbenga wo; o wa ni Abuja’’  (which literally means which Gbenga? He is in Abuja)”

He ended the conversation and managed to pose for  photograph and minutes later, whispered into the ears of  Prof. Akin Mabogunje, the chairman of the Centre for Human Security of the (OOPL), which organised the ceremony.