The Kogi State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has denied the reported abduction of 18 traders by bandits while passing through the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the states, William Anya while reacting to the rumours, denied any such happening and urged members of the public to disregard the news.
There had been earlier rumours that eighteen traders from the Kantin Kwari textile market in Kano State have been abducted by bandits in Kogi state.
The traders were said to be on a commercial journey to Abia, Abia state to buy goods when they were accosted by the unknown gunmen along Lokoja-Okene expressway in Kogi state and taken away.
It was also said that their abductors demanded N50m as ransom before they later reduced it to N27m.
However, Anya denied such happening, declaring in a statement on Friday that: “The attention of the Kogi State Police Command has been drawn to some media publications that eighteen (18) traders have been kidnapped in Kogi State.
“The Command wish to state categorically clear that no such incident occurred nor reported any where in Kogi State. The news of the purported kidnap of the 18 Kano traders in Kogi State is fake and capable of misleading the public on the Security situation in the State.
“It is pertinent to let the public be aware that, the Kogi State Police Command in collaboration with other Security agencies is determined to guarantee the protection of lives and property in the State.
“The Commissioner of Police, Ede Ayuba Ekpeji, psc, urges members of the Press as well as social media handlers to always find out the true nature of incident and its location before publishing the story so as not to misinform the general public and create mistrust among the good people of Kogi State and Nigeria in general.”