The Enugu State Police Command have debunked a viral video showing series of kidnapping along Enugu-Ugwogo road.
A short video clip which depicts gunshots and people running in a forest, with the accompanying message “Enugu-Ugwogo is not safe now… Yesterday, hoodlums kidnapped three times yesterday. The first was by 12pm, 2pm and 6pm,” had gone viral on Saturday.
But the command in a statement issued on Saturday night, said “the video, with the accompanying message and the news publications, are not only untrue, but highly unfounded and misleading.”
The statement which was signed by the PPRO, Daniel Ndukwe added that “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.
“As a matter of fact, forensic analysis of the video indicates that it did not happen anywhere in the country, let alone Enugu State. In the same vein, the Command sees the unverified and unfounded report of repeated kidnapping incidents on the same day, as a misleading and mischievous act of misinformation, aimed at creating panic in the State.”
While acknowledging that there has been recent kidnapping incidents in some parts of the state, Ndukwe warned that sensationalism and blowing the situation out of proportion isn’t in the best interest of Enugu State while revealing that the Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Ammani has ordered adequate deployment of personnel along Enugu-Ugwogo road.
“The Command, while acknowledging the recent reoccurrence of acts of abduction/kidnapping at some locations of the said road, wishes to clearly state that sensationalizing and blowing the situation out of proportion, as intended by peddlers of the video clip and the publication, will never be in the best interest of the security and safety of the State and her people.
“Consequently, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Ammani, fdc has ordered the massive deployment of the Command’s policing resources to the said location and other of such locations, to sustained onslaught against criminal elements. He reiterates the unwavering commitment of the Command to contain such acts of crime and criminality in the State and to bring their perpetrators to book.
“The CP, therefore, enjoins 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. This they can do by reporting at the nearest Police Station or by calling the Command’s emergency hotlines on: 08032003702, 08075380883, 08086671202 or 08098880172, or send email to [email protected].”
