Police on Thursday urged residents of the Bwari Area Council of the FCT to remain calm and not get tensed over rumours of a security breach in the area.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), in charge of Bwari Police Station, CSP Biodun Makanjuola, made the call in an interview. He said residents should dismiss rumours which sent panic into them on Wednesday that Bwari town had been infiltrated by suspected insurgents who came through the FCT border with another state.
“Bwari is calm. I am surprised to hear the stories going around. I think a radio programme where some contributors said a truckload of suspected insurgents were sighted at Sabon-Bwari, a town close to Sabon-Wuse area of Niger State, caused the panic.
The mention of Bwari caused confusion. When I gave a call to the DPO of Sabon-Wuse on Wednesday, he said he was shocked to hear the news. We monitored the situation throughout Wednesday to see if there would be any infiltration and we are still doing so till this morning.
Yes, there will be tension because of the security situation of the town and the country at large. I assure residents that we will continue to do our best; we are still on alert but God is the best protector of all.”
CSP Makanjuola also said it was possible those sighted were migrants returning to their villages to begin cropping with the onset of the rains.
Reacting to the rumour, Reverend Father Valentine Onwujiogu, Public Relations Officer at Veritas University, Bwari, said the school was closed as students were on vacation.
Onwujiogu said he gathered that the school’s management has asked students to go on two weeks break and to resume on May 17.
“Meanwhile, lectures continue online during these two weeks break.”
In his reaction, Mr Chinedu Ukekwe, Head of Information and Protocol Department at the Nigeria Law School, Bwari, said the school was in session and was not shut for any reason.
This, he said, was contrary to reports going around on social media that the school was shut after receiving news of possible security threat in the area.
Ukekwe said security measures had been intensified in and around the school to ensure safety. The Law School and other institutions in the council area, activities and businesses were going on smoothly, the rumour notwithstanding.
