The Department of State Services (DSS) has disowned a report being circulated on social media about the purported movement of terrorists into the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Southern and Middle-belt regions of Nigeria.
Another report which was credited to the DSS alleged that terrorists hijacked buses of three major transport companies on the Lokoja-Okene Road.
The DSS in a statement on Friday by its spokesman, Peter Afunanya, said the alert purportedly issued by it “on the arrival of Boko Haram and other terrorist elements to the aforementioned places has been in circulation since 2013 when it was first created by mischief makers whose handiwork is to cause chaos.
“Similarly, the report concerning alleged attack on the luxury buses conveying a particular ethnic group to their local base was first created some years back to deceive and incite unsuspecting persons.”
The department said the reports were “merely designed by some zealots to instigate ethnoreligious and political crises of violent and destructive dimensions across the country.”
It added: “While security and law enforcement agencies are totally committed to sustain maximum efforts in ensuring public safety in the nation, citizens are enjoined to disregard these deceitful reports that do not emanate from the Service and go about their normal businesses.”
The statement also said that the secret police would continue to collaborate with other related agencies to ensure “adequate protection for the people, government and critical infrastructure.”
