The Osun State command of the Nigeria Police has debunked reports doing the rounds of a driver who allegedly sold his 18 passengers to kidnappers.
In the said report, the 18-passenger vehicle was said to be travelling from Abuja to Lagos/Ibadan, via Kabba/Ekiti.
The driver was purportedly arrested on Monday evening, July 19, 2021, on Ilesa-Ibadan express road with full loading of luggage but the whole of 18 passengers missing, allegedly having been sold to the kidnappers along Ita-Ore road in Ekiti State.
The said report added that the driver is currently in police custody at Ijamo Ilesa, Osun State, and urged all who read it to share the message as received
It even gave the registration number of the said vehicle as KPA116LG Kogi State.
But the police command said there is no truth in the report whatsoever, stating “empathically that there was no such case reported in Ijamo, or any other police station in Osun State.”
Police spokesperson for the command, SP Yemisi Opalola Olawoyin, described the news as “false and mischievous.”
She explained: “What really happened was that a driver abandoned his Good Samaritan passengers who offered to rescue some victims at a scene of accident at Efon Alaye on their way from Abuja, and took to hiding with his vehicle at a point near Ilesa.
“He was, however, accosted, upon information from Ijamo policemen, by a police patrol team led by DPO Efon Alaye Division. The driver thereafter was taken to Efon Alaye, the neighbouring Ekiti State command, with the vehicle, being the jurisdiction in which the incident occurred.”
She urged the general public to disregard the news, and warned against the spread or peddling of fake and unconfirmed stories, saying such could not only instill fear in the members of the public, but also create unnecessary panic, tension and commotion in the land.