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Police debunk payment of N50 ransom for abducted school girls

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7 years ago

January 26, 2017

Olu Emmanuel

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Say DSS at centre of rescue operation

The Police have refuted report that the Force was taking glory of the ransom paid by parents of the abducted Turkey school girls in securing their release.

The Police authorities in a statement by ASP. Benjamin Hundeyin, Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, protested: “It has sadly and regrettably come to the notice of the Nigeria Police, Zone 2 Headquarters, the erroneous, malicious and deliberately misleading story …published by the Daily Sun of Wednesday January 25, 2017 in which it was mischievously alleged that ‘the Police wanted to take glory for the release of the kidnapped victims…without working with parents of the victims’.”

“The Zonal Headquarters wishes to state clearly that the report is a concocted piece of baseless allegations and contradictions driven by sentiments and not by the core values of journalism, one of which includes integrity,” Hundeyin said.

The Police remarked that the piece co-written by one of the parents of the kidnapped girls, who in the same breath acknowledged that ‘the Police were…intercepting the phone conversations of the kidnappers and the victims’ parents.’

“The Zonal Headquarters wishes to state, emphatically, that it had been on top of the situation right from inception; that it is not aware and was not part of any ransom payment; and that the real masterminds of the kidnap operation have been arrested and will soon be revealed in a comprehensive press briefing from the Force Headquarters Abuja. By this, the Zonal Headquarters challenges anyone with superior information or suspects to present same to the public,” it was declared.

The Nigeria Police, therefore, urged the Editors to verify their claims before going to press; adding that, “Journalists are equally advised to remain emotionally detached from their stories to avoid giving lopsided, fictitious, and assumptive stories to the public.”

The AIG Zone 2, AIG Kayode Aderanti, mni appreciates everyone who played a part in the rescue operation, assures all that the Command will not relent in its fight against crime and criminality according to the mandate of the Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, NPM, mni.