In a statement on Friday, Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna commissioner for internal security and home affairs, dismissed reports of kidnapping on the Abuja-Kaduna road as “false and misleading”.
Aruwan criticized a newspaper’s report that bandits had abducted scores of people on the highway, stating that no such incident occurred on the route which spans five LGAs across Kaduna and Niger states.
According to Aruwan, security agencies and the Kagarko Local Government Council reported that armed men barricaded the Gwaje village axis of the Kagarko-Jere Road on Wednesday, April 5th, 2023, and abducted an unspecified number of occupants from two vehicles, a Volkswagen Golf Wagon (Reg No. LGT228XA) and a Volkswagen Passat (Reg No. FSK556AV).
The vehicles were later found empty. The incident occurred nowhere near the Abuja-Kaduna Highway as reported, and the description of Kagarko town as being along the highway is also inaccurate.
The Kaduna State Government expressed its displeasure with the misleading report, which has gained undue traction on social media and beyond, and emphasized the need for accurate reporting in the fight against banditry. The government is working closely with security agencies on all issues concerning the safety of citizens.
