Report on attack, kidnap of 48 Sokoto worshippers is fake – Police

The Sokoto State Police Command has debunked a report by a social media platform that there was an attack on the state’s mosque in Sokoto state and 48 worshippers were kidnapped.

A statement signed by the Police Public Relation Officer, ASP Sanusi Abubakar, said there was no such attack in any part of the state.

• Malnutrition, a national pandemic in Nigeria – U.S. SOY
• NIGERIA DAILY: Can Technology boost the fight Against Insecurity In Nigeria?

“The attention of Sokoto State Police Command has been drawn to the above purported news in circulation on Social Media which emanated from weetalknaija.com that armed bandits broke into Sokoto State mosque and kidnapped 48 worshippers.

“In view of the above, the Command is using this medium to debunk such fabricated story capable of misleading the general public and create chaos in the state.

“Members of the public should be wary of deception and lies concocted by unverified news websites and further replicated in many online publications,” the statement said.

The statement added that the command was aware of the security situation in the state and had been working tirelessly for a lasting solution in conjunction with other sister agencies.

While reiterating its commitment to sustaining peace in the state, the command called on members of the public to cooperate with security agencies in the fight against banditry and other crimes in the state.

Dozens of travellers, including women and children, were gruesomely murdered and burnt in a vehicle by bandits in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto recently.

While the dead were being buried, the bandits struck in Sokoto again, where they killed worshippers in a mosque, abducted the Imam and some other people.

Sokoto State buried over 60 victims of the senseless massacres by bandits in just a few days.

As a result of these and other attacks taking place in many northern states, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, on Monday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a full-scale state of emergency in all areas where criminals, so determined, are domiciled.

This, according to him, is pursuant to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and to further give effect to the process of proclaiming bandits as terrorists by the President.