The Niger State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has denied reports in some sections of the media on the kidnap of 50 persons by bandits along the Tegina-Minna road.
The State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Usman, said the report on the fresh kidnap is fake news.
Earlier reports had claimed gunmen suspected to be bandits abducted over fifty people along the Tegina-Minna road in Rafi Local Government of Niger State.
The victims were said to have been abducted on Tuesday when three passenger vehicles ran into the roadblock at Kundu set up by the bandits.
The bandits abducted the passengers in the three cars and also kidnapped and conveyed them to an unknown location, while the vehicles were left by the roadside, the report claimed.
However, the Niger Police boss while speaking on the reported incident said nothing of such happened on the road as he personally plied the route while on a condolence visit to Kagara.
He told PR Nigeria in a phone conversation that the road is relatively safe and particularly that no such incident was recorded on the axis.
The Niger CP further disclosed that combat operations are ongoing to rid the State of crimes, adding that some bandits and criminals already arrested will soon be paraded.
Meanwhile, special forces of the Nigerian Military in conjunction with the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) have inflicted fresh casualties on terrorists in the North East region of the country.
According to highly placed military sources, the troops neutralized several Boko Haram fighters who tried to invade Marte in Borno State on Wednesday.
The source explained that the terrorists who rode on motorcycles and gun trucks planned to attack the community but were successfully ambushed and repelled by the soldiers.
Many of the terrorists were killed during the clash which ensued while no casualty was recorded on the part of the soldiers.