‘Report of travellers abduction along Abuja-Kaduna Highway is fake’

Kaduna State Government has denied media reports of abduction of unspecified number of travellers along Kaduna-Abuja highway on Thursday.

The government said there was no such incident on that day, which was Sallah eve, as reported by some media platforms.

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Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan; alongside State Police Commissioner, Umar Musa Muri; Operation Thunder Strikes Sector Commander, Colonel Ibrahim Gambari, led Journalists to the location where the said abduction was said to have taken place on the highway to interact with locals around the area.

Mr Aruwan pointed out that their findings revealed contrary to what the media reported because nobody was abducted on that same day.

“Our checks revealed contrary because nothing of such happened on this road on Thursday.

“We wants Nigerians to know that there are so many interventions on this road from the defense Headquarters.

“There are Operation Thunder Strike working on this road.

“Police Force too are working here, operations puff harder, Intelligence Response Team and other security agencies are all here complimenting each other.

“Let me state on record that Kaduna state government is not saying there are no security challenges in the State, we have security challenges but we are working day and night to ensure that we curtailed it and we are making progress,” he said.

Similarly, the Sector Commander Operations Thunder Strike, Colonel Ibrahim Gambari, described the said media reports of the abduction as fake news being spread by mischief makers.

He said the Abuja-Kaduna Highway is very safe for people and motorists to ply, saying the mission of the Operation Thunder Strikes was to ensure free flow of traffic which they have been doing since May 2019.

“It’s a false alarm, fake information from mischievous people who claimed to be patriotic citizens,” he said.

The State Police Commissioner, on his part, warned citizens to desist from spreading fake news.

Daily Trust reported how some online news platforms reported that unspecified number of travellers were allegedly abducted on the Sallah eve near Kateri forest along the highway with their vehicles abandoned by the roadside.