Police in Enugu State have debunked a video footage currently in circulation, alleging that a part of the state is not safe due to a series of kidnappings.
There have been reported cases of kidnapping in the past week even though there are several security checkpoints and a mobile police base in the affected area.
A video showing a number of persons running for safety in a bush with sounds of gunshots being heard has gone viral.
The video’s caption indicated that the event happened along the road during one of the kidnap incidents.
But in a statement on Sunday, the Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, said the scene the video displayed did not happen in Nigeria.
“The video, with the accompanying message and the news publications, is not only untrue, but highly unfounded and misleading. This is because there was no such serial or repeated incident of kidnapping on the same day as reported, or shooting and chaotic incident as relayed in the video at the mentioned location or any other part of the state,” Ndukwe said.
“As a matter of fact, forensic analysis of the video indicates that it did not happen anywhere in the country, let alone in Enugu State. In the same vein, the command sees the unverified and unfounded report of repeated kidnapping incidents on the same day as misleading and mischievous act of misinformation, aimed at creating panic in the state.”
The state police command, however, acknowledged that there were abduction cases along the road recently, adding that necessary measures were being put in place to avert it.
Ndukwe warned against “sensationalising and blowing the situation out of proportion”, adding that such “video clip and the publication will never be in the best interest of the security and safety of the state and her people”.
Meanwhile, the state commissioner of police, CP Ahmed Ammani, has ordered the deployment of more police officers to the said location and other hotbeds, to sustain an onslaught against criminal elements.
While reiterating “the unwavering commitment of the command to contain such acts of crimes and criminality in the state and to bring their perpetrators to book”, CP Ammani urged citizens of the state, especially those of locations where acts of abduction/kidnapping and other criminality are perpetrated, “to assist the command with credible information and intelligence required to tackle the situations headlong”.
The police authorities also urged Enugu residents to report such information to the nearest police station or by calling the command’s emergency hotlines on 08032003702, 08075380883, 08086671202, or 08098880172, or sending emails to [email protected].
