Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu, has dismissed reports alleging the kidnap of over 100 worshippers in Kajuru Local Government Area as false and deliberately fabricated to incite tension in the state.
Speaking to journalists after the State Security Council meeting at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Monday, the commissioner described the report as the handiwork of “conflict entrepreneurs” bent on undermining the relative peace currently being enjoyed in Kaduna State.
Alhaji Rabiu challenged those spreading the allegation to produce the names and details of the alleged victims, insisting that no such incident occurred.
“Anyone who claims that people were kidnapped should come forward with the list of victims and other particulars,” he said, warning that the police would not hesitate to apply the full weight of the law against purveyors of falsehood capable of destabilising the state.
Corroborating the police position, the Chairman of Kajuru Local Government Area, Dauda Madaki, said investigations conducted immediately after the rumour surfaced showed clearly that no attack or kidnap took place in the area.
Madaki explained that upon hearing of the alleged incident, he mobilised security operatives to Kurmin Wali, the community where the purported attack was said to have occurred.
“We visited the church where the so-called kidnap took place and there was no evidence of any attack,” he said.
According to him, the village head, Mai Dan Zaria, as well as the youth leader of the area, Bernard Bona, both confirmed that no worshippers were kidnapped.
“I personally asked the village head and the youth leader, who was interviewed by journalists that accompanied me, and they all said that no such incident happened,” he added.
The council chairman further challenged anyone with contrary information to present the names of the alleged victims, noting that no individual or family has reported a missing person since the rumour began.
Madaki alleged that the false report was being sponsored by individuals unhappy with the peace that Kajuru has enjoyed under the present administration.
He urged residents to remain calm and continue their lawful activities, advising them to promptly report suspicious movements and rumour peddlers to security agencies.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Sule Shuaibu (SAN), said religious leaders, including the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), had independently engaged with communities in the area and confirmed that the kidnap report was false.
“What was pushed into the public domain was completely untrue,” Shuaibu said, reiterating that the Kaduna State Government maintains zero tolerance for criminality.
